On November 23, 2009, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the recall of about 2.1 million drop-side cribs sold in the United States and Canada. With these cribs, the drop-side can detach from the crib, allowing a dangerous gap that may entrap and suffocate infants. 

The drop side on these cribs is attached with plastic hardware that can detach. If this occurs, a dangerous space is created between the mattress and the crib wall—a space that is large enough for an infant to drop through and fall to the floor or become trapped between the mattress and the side.

Cribs sold by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc., of British Columbia, Canada, between January, 1993, and October, 2009, should not be used. The recall includes approximately 147,000 drop-side cribs sold under the Fisher-Price brand. Those made by StorkCraft with the Fisher-Price logo manufactured between October, 2007, and December, 2004, have also been recalled.

Major retailers who have sold these cribs include BJ's Wholesale Club, J.C. Penny, Kmart, Meijers, Sears, USA. Baby, and Wal-Mart stores. The cribs have been sold online by Amazon.com, BabiesRUs.com, Costco.com, Target.com, and Wal-Mart.com.

If you suspect that you own one of these cribs, locate the crib name, manufacture date, model number, country of manufacture, and the manufacturer's name, address, and contact information on the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board. Contact StorkCraft with this information via phone or its Web site, www.storkcraft.com. Be advised that the Web site may be overloaded with visitors.

This is not the first time drop-side cribs have been recalled. Other 2009 recalls have included 400,000 drop-side cribs made by Simplicity and 600,000 drop-side cribs made by Delta Enterprise. Because drop-side cribs are inherently dangerous due to multiple moving parts, safety advocates recommend not using them at all.