by Aimee Keenan-Greene

The new year means new bills for thousands affected by the recent Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ruling to ban drop-side cribs.

Earlier this month the Consumer Product Safety Commission, lead by chairperson Inez Tenenbaum, cemented their Safe Sleep Campaign with the unanimous new standards ruling to take all drop-side cribs off the market in six months, by mid 2011. 

Today the new standards were entered into the Federal Register of the National Archives and Records Administration.  The new standards now mandate stronger mattress supports, more durable crib hardware, and make safety testing more rigorous. 

The CPSC says while manufacturers and retailers are used to meeting product standards, more than 59,000 childcare facilities will now have to conform to performance standards. An additional 53,000 hotels and motels will need to follow the new regulation.   

The CPSC estimates these types of public establishments alone have 935,000 cribs that need replacing, at a total cost of $467 million. CPSC Commissioner Anne Northrup said almost every large daycare center who spoke to them had asked for 5 years to comply. 

Any public place that uses cribs must have compliant cribs in their facilities by June 2012. There was some concern from the Commission that crib manufacturers will be unable to meet the demand for new cribs, and may compromise crib safety in unintentional ways by rushing production. 

All new cribs will be required to have stationary sides that can withstand the force larger children sometimes exert on the railings. Crib rails will no longer lower into a position that makes accessing the child easier for the parent. 

The CPSC says the longer cribs are used, the more hazards they present to kids.  CPSC Commissioner Robert Adler says "children are involuntary risk takers and deserve all the protection we can give them." 

The CPSC says to further reduce the risk of child sleep injuries, always lay a baby on their back, remove all loose pillows and bedding, and use only a fitted bottom sheet designed for the mattress - to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

CPSC has recalled more than 11 million dangerous cribs since 2007. Detaching drop-side rails were associated with at least 32 infant suffocation and strangulation deaths since 2000. Additional deaths occurred due to defective hardware.  

The Commission proposed the changes on July 23, 2010, and the new safety regulations take affect June 28, 2011. No drop-side cribs can be sold after June 2011.  

The CPSC has a toll-free hotline for consumers to report product safety problems or to request information about product safety. The number is 800-638-CPSC.