Strict New Crib Rules

01/07/2011

You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted December 15, 2010 to approve a new Rule for Cribs, adopting the most rigorous standards in the world. The Rule is an outcome of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Among the performance requirements:

80 lb. loading on individual slats
surviving many thousands of impacts to mattress surface and crib sides
wood screws no longer allowed as sole means of fastening structural joints
a ban on traditional drop-side cribs (a moveable section of the side is still allowed for easier access to baby)

Of particular concern to infant care providers is Congress's requirement that the Rule be retroactive. No wooden cribs in use prior to the Rule are known to be in compliance with it. All such cribs must be replaced. The Rule allows two years after its publication (expected daily now) for child care centers to replace their cribs.

Make Your Voice Heard. Pacific Oaks College. pacificoaks.edu

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