US Government’s CPSC set to announce massive crib recall

The US Government’s Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to announce on Tuesday an expansive recall on cribs with dropdown sides.

Both CBS News and ABC News in the U.S. have learned that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an independent federal agency, will announce a recall on cribs with dropdown sides in what could be the largest crib recall in U.S. history.

A report issued by Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen on CBS’s “Early Show” indicated that there has been a strong push to ban cribs with dropdown sides. The report highlighted 10-month-old Tyler Jonathon who died from strangulation when his head became stuck between the side rail and headboard while sleeping.

“That’s every parent’s safe-haven for their child, and to see the horrific site of him strangled … was just horrifying to me,” said Michele Witte, Tyler’s mother, to Koeppen.

While it’s currently not known exactly which cribs will be recalled Tuesday, expectations are that the recall will be broad-ranging. There have been recalls in the past of such cribs due to the danger of “infant entrapment and suffocation.”

In 2008, crib maker Delta Enterprises voluntarily recalled over 1.5 million cribs with dropdown sides after it was found that safety pegs had the potential to become faulty. The cribs were attributed to the death of two infants.

Inez Tenenbaum, head of the CPSC, said that the CPSC has been “relying on voluntary standards” for crib safety but believes it’s “no longer enough.”

“We will now be writing … federal regulations that are mandatory for cribs,” said Tenenbaum.

For more information about the recall, visit the CPSC Web site on Tuesday.