New Safety Regulations For Baby Cribs

On June 28th, new safety regulations were issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Changes to the crib safety standards were the first major revisions made in over 30 years. The regulations for improved crib safety include:

• prohibiting creation and sale of cribs with drop-down sides;
• stronger crib slats and mattress supports;
• more durable crib hardware;
• more than 75,000 cycles of testing before certification is granted

Testing involves a machine that stimulates a child jumping up and down inside a crib, by dropping 45 pounds in the center and corners 600 times in each location; and another machine that pulls back and forth on the crib railing over 7,000 times in each direction to ensure the hardware stays tight. Another test will make sure the crib slats don’t become loose or break when 80 pounds is dangled from one.

As retailers waited for permission to sell cribs that had not been certified by testing laboratories, many began giving the cribs to charities and selling cribs last minute before the new regulations went into effect at rock bottom prices. Day care facilities and hotels offering cribs for guests have 18 months to replace outdated cribs with new cribs which meet the safety regulations but retailers must immediately stop selling outdated cribs.

While many retailers are complaining at having many cribs in their inventories they cannot sell – they may actually end up selling more cribs as parents replace older models with the newer, safer models. It is also illegal to sell used cribs, now.

If your baby has been injured due to a crib that does not meet safety regulations, speak to a New York personal liability lawyer as soon as possible.