Crib Safety - Booklet

Crib Safety

For your children's safety, only use cribs manufactured after September 1986. Cribs made before this date do not meet current standards and put children at risk. Check for a label affixed to or printed on the crib that shows the date of manufacture. Do not use the crib if you do not find the label or if the label indicates a date of manufacture prior to September 1986.

Using a crib manufactured before September 1986 poses potential hazards that may result in serious injuries, including death.

Some of the fatalities related to cribs manufactured prior to September 1986 include:

• Babies suffocated after being trapped between a collapsed mattress and the side of the crib.
• Babies suffocated with their head stuck inside the crib, after the body slipped between slats.
• Babies strangled because their clothing caught on corner posts.
• Babies suffocated when crib parts broke or were missing and the child became trapped between the crib's side and the mattress or between the side and the headboard.

Cribs must have a mattress support system that is bolted or secured into the end panel and cannot collapse or become dislodged as a result of normal use. The height of the mattress support should not be adjustable without the aid of tools.

If you have a crib with a mattress support system as shown in the following two figures, it fails to meet the current safety standards and legally, it cannot be sold or even given away.