Drop-side cribs banned!

[Carnie]

Bicker vs. Bama Fan

I'll take BamaFan.

 

[sbell111]

That's the thing, though. There were no more "defective" parts in this case, then in anything else that people buy. For every 1 baby that was killed in one of these cribs, there were 100,000's others sleeping in the same crib, with the same parts, who were perfectly fine.

Why not refine the manufacturing practice? Require the companies to redesign the cribs? As I said, for our crib, it took 4 small metal pieces to make the required "fix." And, to be honest, ours didn't even need fixing in the first place, since we regularly checked it out.

Instead of looking into the individual cases which may have shown a faulty part, or even parental negligence, we get a sweeping ban...because it's just easier.

This ban does, in fact, require manufacturers to redesign their cribs. They were offering cribs that were found to be unsafe. The unsafe 'feature' (drop sides) are no longer allowed. Therefore manufacturers of these cribs are being required to redesign their cribs to not have the problem feature.

The requirement is the very thing that you state that the government should do.

 

[sbell111]

Bicker vs. Bama Fan

I'll take BamaFan.

I'd just as soon that they both took it to PM.

 

[Colleen27]

Many people survived cars with no safety restraints whatsoever, but there's a reason that cars are required to have them.

Just because those that die don't get a vote doesn't mean that avoiding unnecessary deaths is a bad thing.

But at some point doesn't common sense have to take over? 30 deaths over 10 years... How many things are more dangerous than that? Bikes, skateboards, skis, cars (even with the most modern restraints), boats, planes... Heck, more than three times that many kids died from choking on hot dogs over the same 10 year period but you don't see those banned!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I'd just as soon that they both took it to PM.

You are right - I apologize.

 

[Colleen27]

This ban does, in fact, require manufacturers to redesign their cribs. They were offering cribs that were found to be unsafe. The unsafe 'feature' (drop sides) are no longer allowed. Therefore manufacturers of these cribs are being required to redesign their cribs to not have the problem feature.

The requirement is the very thing that you state that the government should do.

But why not allow them to redesign as they see fit, perhaps modeled after the millions of drop side cribs that don't share the defects that created the hazard in the first place? Why should manufacturers who have been making a safe product all along also have to redesign because their (mostly cheaper) competitors cut corners and produced an unsafe product?

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

nm...

 

[princessmom29]

Unless you plan on standing next to the crib every moment that the child is in it, I don't see how your method is protecting the child against being injured should a defective part break.

the defective parts are breaking due to children running, jumping, and banging in the crib. Don't allow them to do that. Listen and watch and as soon as they are up, take them out. Iti s really very simple. The injuries that are happening are not an immediate result of hardware failure. Children are suffocating becuase onec the hardware fails thay can stick their heads in between the side panel and headboard or footboard. It takes some effort on an infant's part to do this, and it doesn't happen instantly. You would efinitely hear the child moving around at that point, if you are using a monitor or are close enough not to need one.

 

[princessmom29]

I'm pretty sure that an earlier poster mentioned that she believes that the fixed side cribs, while less high overall, were actually just as 'deep' inside because the mattress lowered farther toward the floor than in the drop-side cribs. This feature allows a shorter parent to more easily reach all the way into the crib while still making it just as difficult for a child to climb out.

Based solely on our fixed-side crib and having no experience with drop-siders, I find this explanation to be plausible.

but, as I pointed out, at least in the fixed side cribs I have seen, that is not the case. There is a good 6 inch difference in rail to matress height, and I STILL cannot reach into them.

 

[sbell111]

Are you saying that they isn't widespread government corruption, or are you just trying to get me banned by posting it?

I'm saying that I have seen no evidence of curruption that is widespread to the point of making your original statement true and that your statement is an insult to those government employees who are not corrupt.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I'm saying that I have seen no evidence of curruption that is widespread to the point of making your original statement true and that your statement is an insult to those government employees who are not corrupt.

Thanks - we can agree to disagree.

 

[sbell111]

but, as I pointed out, at least in the fixed side cribs I have seen, that is not the case. There is a good 6 inch difference in rail to matress height, and I STILL cannot reach into them.

You keep bringing up this 'six-inch difference'. Of course, a six-inch difference is completely fine, as long as the shallower crib is still deep enough to keep the infant inside.

 

[bicker]

I've removed quotations of comments made by DisneyBamaFan that evidently DisneyBamaFan realized should not have been posted, along with my replies to those comments. What I'll leave behind is simply the plea for folks to please refrain from posting comments about other posters. Best practice is to simply respond to the comments made, not commenting about who posted the comments.

You basically stated that everyone in the government who makes a decision is taking illegal bribes. Unless you have proof of this widespread corruption, then you made a baseless pot-shot.

Right on-target, and precisely what I meant.

Bicker vs. Bama Fan
I'll take BamaFan.

It isn't a discussion when it turns into a cliquish popularity contest.

I'd just as soon that they both took it to PM.

I'd be fine with that. All comments about posters are best restricted to PM.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

nm...

 

[bicker]

Did you not earlier in this thread place the blame for these deaths upon negligent parents leaving the side rails down?

No. I made a related but utterly converse point, that blame shall not be placed on irresponsible parents.

That was an incorrect analysis of the problem and might be considered by some people a baseless pot shot caused by your ignorance of the facts.

Perhaps, if you agree with all the assertions - and I don't mean to dispute them at this point - I was willing to take your word for it and let the issue go - but are you seriously suggesting that such baseless pot-shots are justified? Are you really suggesting that two wrongs (in your view) are better than one? or zero? That makes no sense.

Regardless, my assertions weren't baseless pot-shots. Rather, based on the additional insights provided, they were perhaps irrelevant. The assertions I made were well-founded - just perhaps not the cause of the issue in question.

 

[princessmom29]

You keep bringing up this 'six-inch difference'. Of course, a six-inch difference is completely fine, as long as the shallower crib is still deep enough to keep the infant inside.

IMO, it is NOT. six inches is one forth the body length of a two foot tall baby. In a drop side crib, the top of DD's head was well above the rail at a year old, on the lowest setting. Six less inches would have meant her whole head, and upper shoulders cleared the rail. It would have been a whole lot easier for her to climb out. That fact, coupled with the fact that many, many mothers have realy trouble placing their children into, and getting them out of fixed isde cribs once the mattresses are dropped really bother me. While i still think it is unnecessary, if they are insisting on going to fixed side cribs that should shorten the legs and drop the mattresses so that everyone can use them safely, or better yet have them sit on the floor like a pack and play.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

This ban does, in fact, require manufacturers to redesign their cribs. They were offering cribs that were found to be unsafe. The unsafe 'feature' (drop sides) are no longer allowed. Therefore manufacturers of these cribs are being required to redesign their cribs to not have the problem feature.

The requirement is the very thing that you state that the government should do.

No, they are not being asked to redesign them. They are being told they can no longer make a drop-side crib. My suggestion of redesign would be to create a drop-sided crib that uses better quality parts and better designs.

But, as I said, it's just easier to make a sweeping ban on something, rather than investigate alternatives and regulate them.

Meanwhile the millions of people who have used these cribs safely without having their hand held suffer.

 

[Colleen27]

IMO, it is NOT. six inches is one forth the body length of a two foot tall baby. In a drop side crib, the top of DD's head was well above the rail at a year old, on the lowest setting. Six less inches would have meant her whole head, and upper shoulders cleared the rail. It would have been a whole lot easier for her to climb out. That fact, coupled with the fact that many, many mothers have realy trouble placing their children into, and getting them out of fixed isde cribs once the mattresses are dropped really bother me. While i still think it is unnecessary, if they are insisting on going to fixed side cribs that should shorten the legs and drop the mattresses so that everyone can use them safely, or better yet have them sit on the floor like a pack and play.

And the better ones do just that - they're like a traditional drop-side crib but with shorter legs, so the distance from mattress to top rail is the same but the parent is able to bend at the waist rather than trying to lower the child into something rib-cage/chest high. My BFF has a beautiful fixed side crib in a style I wouldn't mind at all, it is very easy to use, but her mom spent a pretty penny for a heirloom quality piece.

But others, the cheaper models I've seen in places like Target and Kmart, are basically just drop-side cribs without the drop mechanism, and look terribly uncomfortable from a parent's viewpoint. And that's where this change is going to suck - for all the parents who 1) no longer have the option of buying a second-hand crib to save money and 2) don't have the funds to spend $500 on a comfortable-to-use fixed side model.

 

[sbell111]

IMO, it is NOT. six inches is one forth the body length of a two foot tall baby. In a drop side crib, the top of DD's head was well above the rail at a year old, on the lowest setting. Six less inches would have meant her whole head, and upper shoulders cleared the rail. It would have been a whole lot easier for her to climb out. That fact, coupled with the fact that many, many mothers have realy trouble placing their children into, and getting them out of fixed isde cribs once the mattresses are dropped really bother me. While i still think it is unnecessary, if they are insisting on going to fixed side cribs that should shorten the legs and drop the mattresses so that everyone can use them safely, or better yet have them sit on the floor like a pack and play.

Princess Wigglypants is one year old. She is completely incapable of climbing out of her fixed-side crib. Further, she is not capable of hauling her body over a barrier that comes up to her shoulders. Finally, I assume that government standards are in place that set a maximum depth for cribs to ensure that infants cannot climb out of them. The fact that some cribs are six-inches deeper than this maximum depth doesn't make them safer.

That fact, coupled with the fact that many, many mothers have realy trouble placing their children into, and getting them out of fixed isde cribs once the mattresses are dropped really bother me. While i still think it is unnecessary, if they are insisting on going to fixed side cribs that should shorten the legs and drop the mattresses so that everyone can use them safely, or better yet have them sit on the floor like a pack and play.

You are coupling the uncoupleable. If an individual parent cannot haul their child out of her fixed-side crib because it's individual design doesn't allow it, then she should shop for a more appropriate crib. Cribs of teh design that you described in your post are on the market.

 

[sbell111]

No, they are not being asked to redesign them. They are being told they can no longer make a drop-side crib. My suggestion of redesign would be to create a drop-sided crib that uses better quality parts and better designs.

But, as I said, it's just easier to make a sweeping ban on something, rather than investigate alternatives and regulate them.

Meanwhile the millions of people who have used these cribs safely without having their hand held suffer.

Well, their choices seem to be to redesign the cribs that they offer or to stop selling cribs. I bet that most manufacturers will redesign their cribs.