New Baby Crib Safety Regulations Issued

New baby crib regulations have been issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. These are the first new safety regulations in the crib industry in 30 years, and many believe that these new regulations were long overdue. Some say that these new regulations are going to be among the toughest safety rules in the world when it comes to crib safety. Most notably, one of these new regulations includes a complete ban on selling drop-side cribs. Crib hardware must also be made more durable, with stronger mattress supports and crib slats. A new crib now has to go through more than 75,000 methods of testing before it is deemed safe to be sold, and gets certified.

These new safety regulations leave many retailers with an inventory of cribs that they are not allowed to sell. Those that knew about the upcoming regulations tried to sell as many cribs as possible before it took effect on July 28, 2011. Any inventory left is now garbage. It is also taking longer than expected for crib manufacturers to test all of their new cribs and get them certified, which leaves many baby stores with no cribs to actually sell right now. Retailers tried to get an 18-month period of leniency, allowing them to sell current inventory that does not meet standards. This proposal was quickly shot down by the safety commission. The safety commission did agree, however, to give day-care centers and hotels the 18-months of additional time to comply with the new standards. 

Crib retailers and manufacturers are agreeing that new safety standards were probably needed in the industry, but they disagree at how abruptly the new regulations were put into place. They believe they should have had more time to comply. With the safety of babies at stake, no parent can argue that these new regulations were long overdue.

 

Comments are closed

Photo Gallery

 Log in | Designed by Gabfire themes