Infant Crib Death Leads to Dorel Recall for 600,000 Cribs

More than 600,000 Dorel Asia cribs have been recalled after one infant died due to problems with the drop side of a crib and other infants suffered injuries caused by defective slats on fixed-side cribs.

The crib recall was announced on Tuesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Dorel Asia SRL, of Barbados, after receiving the report of a death of a six-month-old child in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The drop side broke and the parents attempted to repair the crib themselves and continued using it. The company and CPSC have received at least 31 reports of problems with the drop side of the crib, with six children reportedly getting trapped between the drop side and the crib mattress.

The manufacturer has also received 36 reports of slats breaking, which caused at least seven children to suffer scratches or bruises, and two children to become entrapped. Some of those reports came from Dorel Asia cribs that had fixed sides. Because of the slat breakage reports, the Dorel Asia crib recall includes both drop side cribs and fixed side cribs.

About 635,000 Dorel Asia cribs are affected by the recall, including the following cribs:

• 3-1 Sleigh Crib – Cherry (with and without castors), Model Numbers WM1633, WM1633-0 and WM1633-0-DC
• 4-1 Bethany James Crib – Walnut, Model Number WM1676BC
• 2-1 Crib – Walnut, Model Number WM1676BCR-DC
• 4-1 Crib – Manhattan Walnut, Model Numbers WM2163 and WM2163DC
• 3-1 Convertible (in Espresso, Natural, White and Toffee), Model Numbers GP004B3EGR, GP004B3WGR, DA1615B3, DAKM5132 and DASE5015
• Single (In Espresso and White), Model Numbers GP006BCEGR and GP006BCWGR
• Cottage Hill Single Crib – White, Model Number DASE5005
• Vintage Estate 3-1 Sleigh – Cherry, Model Number DASE5009
• 3-1 Heritage Crib (in Natural and White), Model Numbers DA0504KMC-1N and DA0504KMC-1W
• 3-1 Lexington Crib – Cherry, Model Number DA1614B3
• Single Jenny Lind Crib – Walnut, Model Number DAKM5152

The cribs were sold at K-Mart, Wal-Mart and Sears from January 2005 through December 2009 for between $120 and $700.

Dorel Asia is a division of Dorel, which recalled more than 200,000 Safety 1st Disney Care Center Play Yards and Eddie Bauer Complete Care Play Yards earlier this month due to a defective bassinet that could lead to suffocation and asphyxiation for infants.

In May 2009, the CPSC recalled another 76,600 Dorel play yards, also for suffocation risk. The play yards were sold as Eddie Bauer Sooth and Sway Play Yards. In that recall, the bassinet, which rocked, was determined to be a suffocation hazard after at least 10 reports of infants rolling to one side of the sleeping surface when it became tilted, which could have caused them to suffocate. In one case, a child was reportedly purple and out of breath when rescued.

The CPSC recommends that anyone using the recalled Dorel Asia cribs stop using them immediately and contact Dorel Asia for a free replacement kit.