2 million Stork Craft, Fisher-Price cribs recalled after four infants die
More than 2 million drop-side cribs built by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. are being recalled in the U.S. and Canada after the deaths of four infants.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Canadian government agency Health Canada issued the voluntary recall Monday in cooperation with Stork Craft, based in British Columbia.
The recall includes more than 1.2 million cribs sold in the United States and 968,000 cribs sold in Canada, the commission said in a recall statement. About 147,000 of the recalled drop-side cribs were branded with the Fisher-Price logo.
Only drop-side cribs are included in the recall, the commission said.
Parents are asked to stop using the recalled cribs immediately. They shouldn’t try to fix the cribs until Stork Craft makes a free repair kit available, the statement said.
The recalled cribs’ plastic drop-side hardware can break, deform or fall apart. The recalled cribs feature plastic triggers and a system for lowering the side using one hand, the commission said.
The cribs’ drop-side can detach at one or more corners, creating a gap between the side of the crib and its mattress, the statement said. Children can become trapped in the gap and fall out of the crib, get injured or suffocate, the statement said.
The recall isn’t the first for drop-side-style cribs.
In July, about 400,000 drop-side cribs built by Simplicity Inc. were recalled by the commission for similar injury and suffocation problems. About 1,900 SunKids “convertible” drop-side cribs, which were made in China and imported by Suntech Enterprises Inc., were recalled by the commission over similar suffocation and injury reports.
The commission, Health Canada and Stork Craft have received reports of a combined 110 incidents in which the drop sides detached. Fifteen children were trapped and four of them suffocated, the commission said. Another 20 children fell from cribs, which resulted in bumps, bruises and concussions, the statement said.
Stork Craft built the recalled cribs from January 1993 to October 2009. The Fisher-Price branded cribs were manufactured from October 1997 to December 2004, the commission said.
Calls to Stork Craft weren’t returned Monday.
Major U.S. and Canadian retailers sold the cribs, including Wal-Mart, Kmart, Sears, JCPenney, USA Baby, Meijer and BJ’s Wholesale Club, the statement said. The cribs also were sold online by Amazon .com, Babiesrus.com, Costco .com, Target.com and Walmart.com from January 1993 through October 2009.
The recalled cribs sold for $100 to $400 and were manufactured in Canada, China and Indonesia.
Owners of the cribs can contact Stork Craft at (877) 274-0277 or Storkcraft.com to order their free crib-repair kit.
nathan.olivarezgiles
@latimes.com
