WASHINGTON – Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc is voluntarily recalling more than 2.1 million baby cribs in the United States and Canada because of a potential suffocation hazard, US safety officials said yesterday.
Four suffocation deaths related to cribs with drop-down sides made by the Canadian company have been reported in the US, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement announcing the recall.
US and Canadian safety officials have received a combined 110 reports of incidents involving Stork Craft drop-side cribs, the agency said.
The cribs were sold at major retailers such as JC Penney, Kmart and Wal-Mart, as well as online at Amazon.com, Costco.com and Target.com, the safety commission said.
The voluntary recall involves about 1.2 million cribs distributed in the US and 968,000 units distributed in Canada, the agency said.
Problems with the cribs’ plastic hardware, or improper installation, could cause the side that drops to detach, creating a potentially dangerous space between the crib and mattress, the agency added.
“The bodies of infants and toddlers can become entrapped in the space which can lead to suffocation. Complete detachment of drop-sides can lead to falls from the crib,” the agency said.
The recall includes Stork Craft cribs made and distributed between January 1993 and October 2009, including 147,000 with the Fisher-Price logo. Parents should immediately stop using the recalled cribs and contact Stork Craft for a free repair kit, the agency said.
In January Stork Craft recalled more than one million cribs in Canada and the US because of a different defect, which was also a potential suffocation hazard.
In that recall, the safety commission said, metal support brackets used to support the mattress and mattress board could crack and break, which could create a gap between the mattress and crib rails that could entrap and suffocate infants. – (Reuters)