Concerns about the safety of popular crib designs have led to 21 recalls of 4.2 million cribs over the past two years because of hazardous defects. Products involved in the recalls have been linked to at least five infant deaths and 16 cases in which babies were trapped by parts of a crib, said the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Drop-side cribs, popular because sliding down one side of the crib makes it easier for a parent to pick up a baby, have proved to be particularly problematic.
“There are enough concerns raised about drop-side cribs that we’re moving forward and we’re going to phase them out,” Mr. Storch said in an interview. While Mr. Storch said he doesn’t necessarily believe newer drop-side cribs are dangerous, he’s concerned about the amount of time consumers are keeping their cribs, especially in this economy. “It adds in an element of risk that we don’t want to take, particularly over time,” he said. “It seems that the strongest cribs are ones where the four sides attach to each other and have less complicated hardware.”