Canada’s Stork Craft Manufacturing is issuing a massive recall of over 2 million drop-side cribs — approximately 1.2 million cribs were distributed in the U.S., and 968,000 in Canada.

The cribs may pose an “infant entrapment and suffocation” hazard if the faulty drop-side hardware breaks or is missing. The assembly of the Stork Craft cribs also allow the drop-side to be put in upside down (and un-handy folks like us need our important items fool proof), and if installed this way the plastic parts can become broken or loose, causing the side to detach and create a space between the crib and the mattress. 110 incidents of the drop-side detachment have already been reported. 4 babies wound up suffocating, and 20 others were injured after falling out of their crib.

Stork Craft is urging parents to stop using the cribs immediately and to contact them for a repair kit. The recall encompasses cribs going all the way back to January 1993 (so check those hand-me-downs) and they were sold at major retailers nationwide for between $100 and $400. The recall only involves cribs with a drop-side, and have plastic hardware — generally a plastic “trigger” and “one-hand-system” hardware.

Visit the Stork Craft website for more info and to request a free repair kit.

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Crib manufacturer LaJobi is recalling nearly 5,000 of its drop side cribs due to possible defects that create an entrapment and strangulation hazard.

About 2,900 of the affected cribs are the Bonavita Hudson and Babi Itilia Pinehurst brands/models — they have a possible defect in the the lower spring pins, which can cause the drop side to detach from the crib and create a hazardous gap. The cribs were manufactured between December 2006 through August 2007. The Babi Italia Pinehurst crib was sold exclusively at Babies ‘R Us, and the Bonavita Hudson was sold at children’s specialty stores nationwide, both for around $300.

About 2,000 of the Bonavita Cabana drop side cribs are being recalled due to the wooden side crib slats, which have been reported to break and/or fall out of the rails also creating a dangerous gap for baby’s head to get caught in. This crib was manufactured between January 2006 through October 2008. The crib was sold at specialty stores nationwide for around $450.

All cribs affected by the recall can be identified by a label attached to the bottom of either the headboard or footboard. Parents are urged to stop using the crib immediately, and to contact LaJobi for replacement crib side rails or a free, professional installation of a retrofit hardware kit (depending on the type of crib) that will eliminate the problem. Find out more info at LaJobi’s website.

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Stork Craft Manufacturing is recalling over a half a million cribs, because of reports of the metal support brackets that support the mattress cracked and broke. This caused the mattress platform to collapse, leaving a gap between the mattress and side rails, creating an entrapment and suffocation hazard.

The cribs being recalled go all the way back to May 2000, so watch out if you’re buying a used crib or receiving a hand-me-down. The cribs were sold nationwide at retailers such as J.C. Penney, Kmart, and Walmart, as well as online, for about $100 - $400. To tell if your crib is a Stork Craft crib, check the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board — the “storkcraft baby” insignia may also be on the drop side teething rail.

Stork Craft suggests parents stop using the crib immediately, and contact the company to receive a kit with new mattress support brackets. More info can be found at the Stork Craft website.

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Jardine and regulators have expanded their previous round of recalls, after more reports of unsafe situations with the cribs.

Jardine’s original recall of 320,000 Chinese-made cribs has been expanded to include 56,450 more after federal safety regulators received 20 additional reports of crib slats breaking. Nine of those incidents occurred when infants or toddlers managed to break the slats while in the crib, including one 22-month-old who fell through the gap created by the break. No injuries have been reported by these incidents.

In the original recall announced last June, there were 42 incidents of slats and spindles breaking, including four children who’d become entrapped in the space created by those breaks. Two of those children suffered abrasions and bruising. The recall was announced by federal regulators and Jardine, based in Taipei, Taiwan.

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Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against SFCA, the company that recently bought crib manufacturer Simplicity, in an effort to step up responsibility on companies for safety concerns.

“SFCA distributed the dangerous bassinets into Illinois even after the same defective design caused the death of a 4-month-old baby girl. So far SFCA has refused to cooperate,” Madigan said.

Madigan also called out for an improvement to the recall system itself, calling on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to step up enforcement to stop making families wait for sometimes cheap or confusing replacement parts.

By the time 28 different types of Jardine cribs were recalled last June, parents like Jennifer Slivinskas of Orland Park already had them in their homes, and were told to wait six weeks for a replacement part.

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That great deal on a used crib from Craigslist might not have been a bargain after all. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a huge recall of over 1.6 million cribs manufactured between 1995 and 2007 by Delta Enterprise, the world’s largest crib distributor. The problem stems from missing safety pegs in the drop side which can lead to it falling, creating a hazardous gap where a baby’s head can get stuck. Two known deaths have already resulted from this. Information about the affected models can be found here.

In light of this as well as a large number of other crib recalls, the CPSC is using its Congressional authority to implement new crib manufacturing standards.

“Having determined that no actions have been taken by the voluntary standards community, the agency is using another authority granted by Congress, the authority to create mandatory standards,” said CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese.

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Around 2,000 convertible cribs made by Playkids U.S.A. are being recalled as they present a suffocation hazard. The mesh sides stretches too much, creating a gap between the side and the mattress — not good! The convertible cribs affected by the recall have a model number PLK-909, but the model number is only found on the packaging — so if you’re the obsessive type that keeps the boxes for everything, then good for you. The rest of us, well, who knows. The cribs were sold at various baby stores in New York between March 2007 and September 2008 for around a hundred bucks.

Parents are being advised to stop using the convertible cribs immediately and contact Playkids U.S.A. at 718-797-0302 for a full refund. (You can call Playkids collect.)

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Various retailers have announced a voluntary recall of side drop cribs made by Simplicity, Inc. You may remember Simplicity from a year ago, when other of their cribs were recalled after infant deaths occurred. Not surprisingly, Simplicity is now out of business. With this round of apparently shoddy craftsmanship the crib side drops down all right — all on its own, creating an entrapment hazard.

This recall of this Simplicity crib includes model numbers: 8620, 8745, 8748, 8755, 8756, 8778, 8810, and 8994, with a date code ending in 05DH, 05GB, 06DH, 06GB, 07DH or 07GB (examples: 1806 DH or 0507 GB). Model names are the Aspen and Crib N Changer Combo, Gabrielle, Camille, Providence and Shenandoah. But you know what? As this is the second huge recall of these cribs, we would suggest even if you own a Simplicity crib not listed here, maybe consider a replacement…

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Well just looking at the picture of this crib it looks like a baby could easily fall out regardless of it being broken or not, but perhaps we’re just not up on the latest in crib styles. Apparently the problem is that the support brackets on the mattress support spring are too long, which blocks the mattress from being lowered all the way — specifically, to the 26 inch minimum required between the mattress and the top of the crib railing. Anything higher than that, and junior can crawl his way over the top and potentially fall right on his noggin.

These cribs are wooden, and the models included are: Majestic Curved Top cribs with model number 9500, Majestic Flat Top cribs with model number 9000, Essex cribs with model number 7100, Brighton/Sussex cribs with model number 9100, and Captiva cribs with model number 5100. (The model number is printed on a label underneath the right side rail)

These cribs were manufactured between November 1, 2005 and November 1, 2007 and were sold at specialty kid stores nationwide in the range of $400 - $600(!). Parents can contact Munire Furniture through their website and receive replacement support brackets. Sheesh, for that kind of price, they should send someone out to replace them for you.

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Wow, this is scary — approximately one million Simplicity Cribs are being recalled because of a defect in the drop-side. The hardware was made so that apparently it’s pretty easy to assemble the drop-side upside down. This causes it to be able to detach, creating a gap large enough for infants to get stuck and suffocate. Two known deaths have already occurred, and another is being investigated.

The cribs were sold nationwide from January 1998 through May 2007 for between $100 - $300. Parents are being urged to immediately check whether the drop-side is installed correctly (there is information on their website to help determine that), and then contact them at 888-593-9274 for a free repair.

And if you can’t figure out if it’s safe or not, or have even the littlest bit of doubt, don’t use the thing! The deaths are tragic enough without the immense guilt these parents who assembled the crib must feel thinking they were somehow responsible…

UPDATE: This crib was also sold under the Graco name, and we just read that the same hazard may exist in cribs with the “older style” hardware (again, go to their website to determine which you have) even if the side was installed right side up. This is the largest crib recall in history, so there’s a good chance you might have this one — check your cribs, people!

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