After dozens of deaths, drop-side cribs outlawed

[Leajess99]

I wonder if this will lead to an increase in back pain?

Someone mentioned the cribs are lower - what does this mean - the side is lower or the crib is not as high off the ground?

If the side is lower - then I predict a higher number of instances where children are hurt jumping out of a crib - I had to take my son out of his crib very young b/c at 11 months he was able to jump out...
If the crib is lower to the ground - this increases the risk of other children or pets climbing in...it also would probably give a child more courage to climb out at a younger age as the drop down isn't nearly as daunting as a higher crib would be...

how long before legislation will be needed for the 2 kids a year that are smothered by a pet jumping into a lower crib or falling out need to be put into place.

Maybe just bubble-wrapping our kids would work - but then they smother in the plastic...

I was in the same situation as the bolded. My daughter will be 8 next month but she was climbing out of the crib early even on the lowest setting. My daugher had the Kangaroo climber toy in our living room for all of a couple of days. She would climb up it and jump off the side at 9 months. I was right there with her and could not believe it. She would not slide down the slide. She liked jumping off of it. At almost 8 she still climbs (caught her in the top of the door frame to the bathroom one night) and has an insane amount of upper body strength. We have resorted to a chin up bar that you can place in the doorframe so she can do chinups or hang upside.

 

[Leajess99]

First off, wikipedia is not considered a reliable source, but regardless, the statement that needed to be proven was that Purseval stated there was more parents out there murdering their children, than children dying "by exposure to lead paint, lack of a car seat, a playpen suffocation, etc"

Obviously, since legislation has prevented most of these deaths it would have to be before that was enacted

Are you seriously that clueless?? There is legislation on murder as well but guess what?!?!? It does NOT stop all people from doing it just like banning these cribs will NOT stop all deaths. Look at the numerous other things that have been banned and recalled that are still being used. It is the same concept BUT child murders are still the highest in death rates of children.

EVERYday there is something else that is recalled or whatnot due to someone not paying attention or using the product correctly. Look at the recalls from Chuck E Cheese or the recalls on the Magnetix because a small child (not even age appropriate) was injured. There are people who do not following directions or who think nothing is wrong with letting a 2 year old play with that toy recommended for ages 8 and up. Why is it that we have lost our abilities to think for ourselves and why is it the government has to tell us what we can and cannot have?? Seriously look at some of the other countries and you do NOT see them banning everything under the sun.

 

[Ava]

Someone mentioned the cribs are lower - what does this mean - the side is lower or the crib is not as high off the ground?

We had a drop-side crib that was recalled last year, and we replaced it with a fixed-side crib. The fixed-side crib is slightly lower to the ground; we have an under-bed storage bin under DD's crib and it is a tight squeeze to fit it under the fixed-side whereas under the drop-side it fit easily. Also the fixed-side crib has 4 different height levels for the mattress but the drop-side had only 3. (We never used the highest level of the fixed-side with DD because she was already able to sit when we got it, so I can't say how high it is.)

FWIW, there was nothing wrong with our drop-side crib but we chose to exchange it anyway. I knew the chances of DD being injured or killed in her crib were slim, but I would not have been able to live with myself if something had happened to her because of my choice not to exchange her crib. I don't keep my DD in a bubble but if I can avoid unnecessary risk by simply exchanging a piece of furniture, I will.

 

[Kathi OD]

Here's what I find ridiculous...

There were well over 43,000,000 babies born over the past decade and because of 30 deaths, they are issuing a recall.

It's called over-reaction. What should have happened instead is require manufacturers to go back to using metal, rather than plastic, parts on the cribs. Problem solved.

FWIW, these new cribs would be a nightmare for me. No way I could get a child out of one when the mattress is in the lower positions.

 

[fakereadhed]

Love the bubble wrap comment!!!

My first thought was that babies are falling thru the space left empty from the bumper pads we had to remove.

Let's just legislate as a solution to every problem without thinking things through and prosecute ladies at yardsales instead.

 

[Ava]

FWIW, these new cribs would be a nightmare for me. No way I could get a child out of one when the mattress is in the lower positions.

How tall are you? My mom is only a little over 5' and has no problem getting DD out of her crib. The fixed-side cribs are lower to the ground so its not as much of a reach to the lower mattress position as it is in a drop-side.

 

[Purseval]

First off, wikipedia is not considered a reliable source,

See what I mean DVCBELLE?

so, AGAIN, please provide a link showing more parent homicides than ""by exposure to lead paint, lack of a car seat, a playpen suffocation, etc" before legislation was enacted to prevent these deaths.

I did the very first time when I posted a list of the most common ways for children to die, nothing of which you mentioned even made the list, while homicide made every one of them specifically. I also explained how saying that legislation prevented something is nothing more than anecdotal evidence. Since children still die in car accidents you can't quantify how many were "saved", only how many more or less die at one time. You either don't understand or don't want to.

Since you are so concerned over the horrible dangers of lead poisoning here is one just for you:

http://greenanswers.com/q/16577/pol...s/how-many-americans-die-lead-poisoning-each-

How many Americans die of lead poisoning each year?

From 1979-1998, there were 200 lead-related poison deaths, which averages out to about 11 deaths a year. (My note: lead paints were banned in 1978)

Since then, the numbers have decreased rapidly, and lead poisoning-related deaths are now extremely rare. The main cause used to be gasoline, from which thousands of children contracted tumors, but any modern lead-poisoning deaths are usually related to lead-based paint. Most deaths are children, who are susceptible due to their neurological systems still developing.

 

[DVCBELLE]

See what I mean DVCBELLE?

I know...the beautiful thing about Wikipedia is that you can link straight from there to the source of the article...

When facts are given I find wikipedia to be very reliable and at the very least a good jumping board....

Your stats were from a reputable site and word for word matched what was in the Wikipedia article - yet these were not addressed.

 

[mamaLori05]

I guess someone can call child protective services on me then, because I will not be purchasing a new crib for my baby that's due in less than 2 months. We have a perfectly good, very sturdy, drop side crib that I used with my last 2. Never had a problem with it and it's built like a tank. I see no reason to throw it away and buy a new one for something I'm going to use for about a year. We move our kids out of the crib and into a twin bed right around one year, which is right around the time when they start to become really active in the crib.

 

[KristinU]

Wow, with some of the responses here I must have missed out on some sort of religious nirvana-like experience by not using a drop-side crib for my DS.

I just don't get the utter disdain for the stationery cribs when I'm guessing many have not used them. Anyone have experience with both? Personally I used some drop-sides when babysitting in the 80's and 90's and again with my friend's kids in the early 2000's. They always seemed to be kindof "clackity" and a pain to lower, so when it came time for us to buy a crib I was intrigued by the stationery kind. You bet I researched the heck out of height thing, because as mentioned before I'm 5'1", and as mentioned by other posters the whole things are just lower to the ground. So yeah, I guess you give up some under-crib storage height with them.

The nice thing about the lower overall height is there is less distance to fall if/when a child does climb out. DS climbed out just once, which was the day we converted it to the daybed option that ours had. Ours also converted to a full size bed, which again was nice to have it a bit closer to the floor for DS when he was new to sleeping in a big boy bed. His full size is especially low since we bought an Ikea mattress and bedslats for him, so no box spring.

Anyway, I just don't really quite "get" how passionate people are getting about this.

 

[jodifla]

It does seem like a bit of an over-reaction to recall them, but far more children have died as the result of these cribs than have not being in car seats on airplanes, and look at all the name-calling that goes on with that.

It looks like there will still be fold down gates available for shorter parents.

 

[delmar411]

Wow, with some of the responses here I must have missed out on some sort of religious nirvana-like experience by not using a drop-side crib for my DS.

I just don't get the utter disdain for the stationery cribs when I'm guessing many have not used them. Anyone have experience with both?

I have used both styles. The drop side never mattered to me as I'm nearly 6ft tall so I didn't need the drop side. But my drop sided crib was built in a manner that it couldn't have failed as described (tip over onto the child). So my only thought is that this is a materials issue (crappy quality) or user error. The quality thing should have been known just by looking at the materials used in the crib prior to purchasing as well as knowing how the drop mechanism worked and was assembled, also known prior to purchasing.

And FWIW, my drop sided crib was sturdier than my stationary one even though my stationary one was designed to also be a toddler bed by removing one side.

I'm not the type of mom to worry about things failing on my children but as a FTM I did read all the instructions and always keep it in mind that I needed to very regularly check on all screws and bolts for all the baby items we had. Only took a few mins here and there but often I'd find something that needed to be tighten and I took care of it right away. Just simple maintenance things for peace of mind.

The government can ban and recall things all they like. It's never going to remove all risk from our children's lives. You can't ban or recall stupid parents and children's major daily risks in life are from the stupid parent factor.

 

[candyfloss]

I have to say, I'm a bit under-whelmed by this.

First reason:

30 deaths and 14 suspected deaths in a decade. A decade. They're measuring way back to when Clinton was still president. Taking into consideration all the babies born in the last decade, that's not very many deaths.

Yes, yes, I know . . . even one is too many.

But here's the thing: Everything we do has risk. Everyone in my family rode in a car today. We ate food bought at the grocery store and food prepared by other people. We came in contact with various cleaning chemicals. Some of those things could've hurt us. Some of those things could turn out to be dangerous in the future.

We cannot be 100% protected. At what point do we draw the line between an acceptable risk vs. one that's just too much?

I had a drop-side crib, and I never had any problem with it. Since I'm very short, if I'd been forced to have a "no drop" crib, I'd have been forced to keep a stepping stool by the crib. Which would've been more dangerous? Using a drop-side crib, or me stepping up (sometimes sleepy, sometimes in the dark) on that stool every time I went to the crib with the baby in my arms?

Second reason:

Some people are idiots. Some of those idiots are parents. It'd be interesting to see how many of those cribs were put together wrong, were being used in spite of being damaged, or could otherwise be attributed to "operator error". Have you see the statistics on how many parents install their car seats incorrectly? Why should we assume people are any better at putting together their cribs?

 

[Kathi OD]

How tall are you? My mom is only a little over 5' and has no problem getting DD out of her crib. The fixed-side cribs are lower to the ground so its not as much of a reach to the lower mattress position as it is in a drop-side.

It has nothing to do with my height and everything to do w/ a muscle-related disability.

 

[Nik's Mom]

How tall are you? My mom is only a little over 5' and has no problem getting DD out of her crib. The fixed-side cribs are lower to the ground so its not as much of a reach to the lower mattress position as it is in a drop-side.

When my sons were babies, I could not get them out of their crib without lowering the side rail. I'm 5' with my tennis shoes on. I used to try in the begining, but just the tip of my fingers would reach the baby, so I always ended up lowering the side rail.

 

[MrsPete]

It's not strange logic to say we used them and we survived, people say that about lots of things all the time.

Add to that that the vast, vast, vast majority of children in drop-sided cribs had no problems with them. That's not strange logic at all.

The non-drop side cribs are lower, check them out. We had one and loved it and I'm 5'1" on a good day and I didn't have to use a step stool.

As far as the "we lived through it" thing...when I was a kid there were a pair of twin girls a grade lower than me. One was in a wheelchair and one was not. They had been in a car accident where one was in a car seat, but the other was on a parent's lap in the front...completely legal at the time, thinking about it now I'm sure the carseat was purchased because there were two of them and they couldn't both be held. Anyway, their story was enough for me to always take child safety seriously as a parent, even if it is a one in a million thing.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't take child safety seriously, but I am saying that we shouldn't waste time on things that are very remote possibilities. To use your example, a car accident is a very real possibility, and we have essentially no control over whether some idiot crashes into us -- thus carseats are very worthwhile for protecting our children. However, this crib problem is something that we can control: We can make sure that the crib is put together correctly, that we aren't using a crib for a child who's outgrown it (and thus is more likely to be able to pull/shake the sides harder).

We can never be protected from everything, and if we spend our limited energy on these things that're unlikely to happen, where will we find the energy to do all the other things that the baby needs? Reading to him, playing with him, etc.

The problem with the cribs is that they are being made cheaply now and not with metal and such.

Now that sounds like a real possibility!

Wow, with some of the responses here I must have missed out on some sort of religious nirvana-like experience by not using a drop-side crib for my DS . . . Anyway, I just don't really quite "get" how passionate people are getting about this.

I did like the ease of reaching into my daughters' crib when the side was done, but I'm not passionate about that. My complaint is that it's wrong for the government to attempt to legislate things like this, things that're very unlikely to happen.

 

[hipchickie]

I did the very first time when I posted a list of the most common ways for children to die, nothing of which you mentioned even made the list, while homicide made every one of them specifically. I also explained how saying that legislation prevented something is nothing more than anecdotal evidence. Since children still die in car accidents you can't quantify how many were "saved", only how many more or less die at one time. You either don't understand or don't want to.

Since you are so concerned over the horrible dangers of lead poisoning here is one just for you:

http://greenanswers.com/q/16577/pol...s/how-many-americans-die-lead-poisoning-each-

How many Americans die of lead poisoning each year?

From 1979-1998, there were 200 lead-related poison deaths, which averages out to about 11 deaths a year. (My note: lead paints were banned in 1978)

Since then, the numbers have decreased rapidly, and lead poisoning-related deaths are now extremely rare. The main cause used to be gasoline, from which thousands of children contracted tumors, but any modern lead-poisoning deaths are usually related to lead-based paint. Most deaths are children, who are susceptible due to their neurological systems still developing.

I hate to drag up an old thread, but I forgot about this until I saw you acting in your usual way in another thread...
So your link proved exactly that lead poisoning #'s have decreased rapidly since legislation was enacted to prohibit lead paint :lightbulb...

FTR, i did not mention any ways children die, and am still waiting for you to tell me what "ridiculous" comments I made. Fell free to do that before the next ramble you post.

 

[RangerPooh]

I have to wonder how many of the drop sided cribs that have been charged in infant deaths have been inexpensive made with shotty materials or out of date? We had a drop sided crib that I used for both DDs and it was sturdy, and not going anywhere. I don't think that there was a chance of the railing failing in towards the child or out towards the room. Plus when I did use the drop-side option I always double checked that it latched following hearing the click sound.

With DS we did purchase a stationary crib as we had already gotten rid of the baby things two years earlier. The crib rail height is about the same and at 5'4" I do have difficulties bending over to place the baby in the lower mattress position. But I deal with it, I have no other choice. At least it still has a decent under storage like my previous crib.

So having experienced both types of cribs I can say that I like them the same. I appreciate the drop-side, but not having it isn't a deal breaker. Both cribs were of similar quality so that is a non-issue. It probably comes down to preference and willingness to adjust.

 

[Purseval]

I hate to drag up an old thread, but I forgot about this until I saw you acting in your usual way in another thread...
So your link proved exactly that lead poisoning #'s have decreased rapidly since legislation was enacted to prohibit lead paint :lightbulb...

So I see you're back to your old ways again in this thread....not getting it. You see lead paints were banned in 1978. All that means is that you couldn't buy them any more. It didn't do a thing about the places that used lead paint before 1978 or the paint bought and used before the ban went into effect, they are still out there by the millions. So it wouldn't have dropped from, say, 3000 deaths/year in 1977 to 11 in 1978, 10 in 1979, 8 in 1980, etc., unless most of the deaths were due to children mistaking lead paint for soft drinks and chugging the can down. Reasonable people (that wouldn't be you) would conclude that the major problem you wrote about which the nanny state saved us from couldn't have been that major to begin with as compared to, for instance, homicide, something you never did acknowledge

FTR, i did not mention any ways children die, and am still waiting for you to tell me what "ridiculous" comments I made. Fell free to do that before the next ramble you post.

No, you ridiculed people who actually used "strange logic", otherwise known as common sense, to conclude that banning drop side cribs was making a mountain out of a molehill then asked me to provide some proof that more children were hurt by their parents. Thinking that things like crib rails and lead paint were more dangerous than the other things I could actually provide stats for was, and still is, ridiculous.

I hate to drag up an old thread, but I forgot about this until I saw you acting in your usual way in another thread...

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