Ever since January, many parents have been stuck in a quandary: Keep the drop side crib or toss it? A ban on drop side cribs became effective as of January 2011 but applies to places selling or using drop side cribs only – not parents. While it’s not illegal for parents to use drop side cribs, retailers, secondhand stores, daycares, hotels, or any similar establishments need to replace them with stationary designs. But what do you do when a drop side crib has functioned for years or when you can’t afford new baby furniture?
In theory, all parents could purchase new stationary cribs, but everyone has a different situation. Drop side cribs may be given as an heirloom or hand-me-down, or parents may have one already from an older child. Still, with millions of drop side cribs recalled by multiple manufacturers during the past decade, owning this design can be risky.
The North County Times offers a few points to parents on the fence about keeping the old crib or purchasing a new one:
• Check if the manufacturer or the particular model has had any recalls. Drop side cribs were a nursery staple for several decades, and not all brands or designs were recalled. You may likely have a crib that has never had structure or hardware problems.
• Examine the crib. Cribs are taken apart and put back together for multiple children or when given as hand-me-downs. Check to see if the hardware is sturdy. Poorly-designed hardware that broke and let the drop side fall was often a cause of many crib injuries or deaths.
If you plan to purchase a new crib, which model should you choose? All designs available are stationary, but convertible cribs have become popular. Once a child is too large for the crib, the furniture’s frame folds out into a toddler bed and also into a full-size or sofa bed.
