Strollerderby : simplicity

Things Fall Apart: Simplicity Bassinets Recall Still Expanding, Awkwardly

Miriam Axel-Lute — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Amazing how complicated it can be to identify an unsafe bassinet and get kids out of them. It was late August when the Consumer Products Safety Commission first issued a safety alert warning caregivers not to use Simplicity 3-in-1 or 4-in-1 "close sleeper" bassinets, because when the fabric is detached to place it in "cosleeper" mode and not reattached properly, there is a gap under a metal bar that babies can slip under and strangle.

This was a clear danger, directly responsible for two infant deaths (one of which ocurred nearly a year before the safety alert, which has also raised some eyebrows). So you get them off the market pronto, right?

Enter the complications: First, Simplicity went out of business, and SFCA, the company that bought it, get this, bought only its assets, but not its liabilities. Sweet deal, huh? Sound like a certain Wall Street bailout to you? Anyhow, SFCA assumes no responsibility, and won't issue a recall, so the CPSC has been having to do it piecemeal with retailers.

Meanwhile, it took until late September for someone to figure out that the exact same products were being sold under the Graco and Disney brands as well, and those ought to be included in the recalls.

And then they realized that it was only older models that had the problem, and newer ones have the fabric permanently attached and are fine. Oy vey. Consumer Reports has a video that shows the difference if you're not sure. And the news is still spreading, with one news report just yesterday.

In amongst all this, the ongoing bias against cosleeping (I'll have more on that in detail in a few days) rears its head again: This dangerous product got to market because no one has bothered to set specific safety standards for cosleeping products. And even Consumer Reports disappointingly turns around and in its video uses that as an excuse to recommend the use of regular cribs over cosleepers at all times, even though other cosleepers, and even the later models of this one, don't have this dangerous flaw. The problem here was, in the CPSC's words "metal bars spaced farther apart than 2 3/8 inches, which is the maximum distance allowed under the federal crib safety standard," not being a cosleeper.

Two lessons for safe sleeping: Follow instructions carefully, and if something looks dangerous, don't wait for a manufacturer or the CPSC to tell you it really is.

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Things Fall Apart: 1 Million Cribs Recalled. Maybe Yours?

Karen Murphy — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:07:00 GMT

I read about this and got chills up my spine. One million cribs recalled...entrapment...three babies dead.

The recall of several models of Simplicity and Graco cribs (models listed after the jump) was announced yesterday by the CPSC, two years after a California lawyer alerted them when a nine-month old baby died in a faulty crib. Two years and two more deaths later, the cribs are being recalled. I understand that the recall process may be arduous (though manufacturers are free at any time to announce their own recalls), but how do you explain that to the parents of the two babies who died needlessly after the original report was made?

The cribs being recalled are a variety of models by Simplicity and Graco in which the crib's drop sides had been installed upside down (see photos of improper installation at the CPSC web site), leaving a gap the baby could fall into and suffocate in. Seven other infants had also been entrapped there, and in addition there were 55 reports of the crib's drop sides detaching or the hardware falling that attaches the side to the crib.

The recalled cribs were sold from $100 to $300 at Target, Big Lots, Babies "R" Us and Meijer from January 1998 through May 2007.

The Simplicity model cribs recalled are:

Aspen 3 in 1
Aspen 4 in 1
Nursery-in-a-Box
Crib N Changer Combo
Chelsea
Pooh 4 in 1

And the Simplicity-made cribs sold under the Graco label that are affected are:

Aspen 3 in 1
Ultra 3 in 1
Ultra 4 in 1
Ultra 5 in 1
Whitney
Trio

In all cases, affected model numbers, found in an envelope attached to the mattress support and on the label attached to the headboard, are: 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760 and 8996.

Simplicity is offering free repairs for the models with older hardware (here's how you can tell if yours is the "old" or the "new" hardware). You can contact them at their web site or by phoning 888-593-9274.

Things Fall Apart: The Simplicity Crib of Death

Karen Murphy — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 11:52:00 GMT

And I thought Simplicity just made sewing patterns; they make furniture too? I always had more than my share of trouble following the instructions while attempting to sew something but chalked it up to my lack of sewing genes. Apparently, though, I can blame the company instead for their faulty instructions, since for about 40,000 "Nursery-in-a-Box" cribs, the instructions were printed incorrectly, leading people to install the drop side of the crib upside down which could entrap a baby or fall on someone. Not only that, but there are chokable pieces that fall right off the crib into an eager baby's waiting mouth.

Cribs are just falling apart left and right, aren't they? Does no one, I don't know, test these things? [sigh] This recall extends to cribs that were sold as part of a set that included a changing table and a clothing organizer (aka "a box"), and came in white, cherry, or natural. If you own this you are being advised to immediately check to see if the drop side of your crib is installed upside down (though I am sure you would have noticed this before), and if you have any doubts you can even watch a video which shows you everything you always wanted to know (and more) about installing the drop side properly.