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Mesh-Sided Crib & Playpen WarningWASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and nine manufacturers of dropside mesh-sided cribs and playpens today announced that the cribs and playpens are hazardous when a child is left in one of these products with a side down. Children may asphyxiate or suffocate in the loose mesh of the lowered side. Fifteen young children have died when left in a dropside mesh-sided crib or playpen with a side down since 1978. Nine children died in playpens and six children in cribs. Seven of the victims were six weeks old or younger. The victims rolled or moved off the floor of the crib or playpen into the mesh pocket formed by the lowered side and suffocated. Children can also suffer other injuries such as brain damage as a result of becoming caught in the mesh pocket of a lowered side. Children may be unable to cry out when caught in the mesh pocket because they cannot breathe. Do not leave children in dropside mesh-sided cribs and playpens with a side down. The Commission has accepted a Consent Agreement from the nine manufacturers in the case of In re Bilt-Rite et al; CPSC No 83-4, to settle a complaint which alleged that the products are hazardous when used with a side down. The companies signing the Agreement are Bilt-Rite Juvenile Products, Inc.; Century Products, Inc.; Collier-Keyworth Co., Inc.; Cosco, Inc.; Grace Metal Products, Inc.; Pride-Trimble Corporation; Spalding & Evenflo Companies, Inc. (successor to Questor Corporation); Strolee of California; and Welsh Company, Inc. This announcement is part of a notice campaign by the firms which includes mailing a warning letter to households with children nine months of age or younger and sending warning posters to obstetricians and others. Additional notice will be given in one year by means of posters, advertising and editorials. For further information consumers may call the Consumer Product Safety Commission on its toll-free Hotline: 800-638-CPSC. The teletypewriter number for the hearing-impaired is 800-638-8270. |
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