As a refresher: Beginning June 28, 2011, there are new new federal safety standards for cribs. All cribs made and sold after that date must meet these new standards, which prohibit traditional drop-side cribs, strengthen crib slats and mattress supports, improve the quality of hardware, and require more rigorous testing from entering the marketplace.

Cribs provided by child care facilities, family child care homes, hotels, motels and other places of public accommodation have until Dec. 28, 2012, to meet the requirements of the new standards.

Here are some materials that we have created to help you understand the new standards and what you need to do:

• Questions and Answers about the New Crib Standard
• Enforcement Guidance for Child Care Providers
• Child Care Provider Guide to the New Crib Standards
• Child Care Facilities, Foster Care, Churches: Who is Covered by the Crib Rules

In addition, we continue to receive questions about the new standard. Many of your questions revolve around evacuation cribs and play yards.

Evacuation Cribs

Cribs in child care facilities, family child care homes and places of public accommodation must meet the requirements of the new federal safety standards for full-size or non-full-size cribs. The regulations do not offer any exemptions or exceptions for evacuation cribs, regardless of how they are used.

Play Yards

The new crib standards do not apply to play yards. CPSC recently strengthened the safety standards for play yards. This new standard will take effect in February 2013. From CPSC’s regulatory perspective, a play yard can be used in lieu of a crib. HOWEVER, some state regulations prohibit the use of play yards in lieu of cribs in a child care setting. If you choose to replace the cribs in your child care with play yards, please familiarize yourself with your state regulations.

We have seen some recurring safety incidents involving strollers. One involves the opening between the grab bar or tray and the seat bottom. The other involves fingertip amputations.

Let’s start with the opening. In some older strollers, the opening between the grab bar or tray and the seat bottom is less than 8 inches. This can be a big hazard for babies up to 1 year old. When a baby is not properly harnessed, his or her body can slide down through the opening, but their head and neck get trapped.

CPSC is aware of 30 deaths since 1980 in which a child’s head or neck got trapped between the tray or grab bar and the seat bottom.

Many companies have recalled older strollers because of this risk. For these recalled strollers, there is an easy fix. You simply call the company to get a free repair kit or a replacement piece that prevents a child from slipping through the opening.

Here’s a list of companies supplying this fix for the openings on their recalled strollers:

Graco Quattro™ and MetroLite™ Strollers

Peg Perego Venezia and Pliko-P3 Strollers

Tike Tech  Single City X3 and X3 Sport Jogging Strollers

Valco Baby Tri Mode Single and Twin Jogging Strollers

Zooper Strollers

In addition, owners of Bumbleride Indie or Indie Twin strollers with an adjustable bumper bar manufactured from January 2009 through August 2011 should never set the bar in the intermediate (car seat) position when a child is seated in the stroller.

If you’re about to purchase a used stroller, make sure the opening between the grab bar or tray and the seat opening is 8 inches or more. And check for recalls on SaferProducts.gov or on our Recalls.gov mobile app (for Droid) before you buy. It’s illegal to sell a recalled product.

Whenever you put your baby in a stroller, use the safety harness. This can prevent a baby from slipping and can save a baby’s life. Infants as young as a few weeks old can move around when they sleep. If a baby is sleeping in the stroller without the harness, he or she can slide down to the opening. This is one reason you should never leave a baby, particularly one younger than 12 months old, unattended in the stroller. That’s especially true if the stroller seat’s backrest is in the reclined or flat position.

* * *

Now, let’s turn our attention to fingers. CPSC is aware of at least 23 incidents of fingertip amputations in strollers between 2008 and April 2012 among children under the age of 5. In many cases, children 3 or younger suffered full or partial amputations when their fingers got caught in a hinge. In addition, adults have gotten their fingers caught, too. Amputations typically happen in one of several ways:

• You are using a stroller and a latch stops working, causing the stroller to unexpectedly collapse.
• A child is standing next to or begins to climb into the stroller while a caregiver is unfolding or opening the stroller.
• You lift a collapsed stroller, such as picking it up out of the trunk of a car. One side of the frame unexpectedly unfolds.
• Your finger gets caught in a hinge when you fold or unfold the stroller.

Several companies have recalled their strollers to give caregivers free hinge covers that block fingers from getting caught.

If you have or are buying one of these strollers secondhand, make sure that you have the hinge cover:

Britax “Blink” single umbrella strollers

CYBEX Ruby, Onyx and Topaz model umbrella strollers

Graco Passage™, Alano™ and Spree™ Strollers and Travel Systems | Video

Maclaren single and double umbrella strollers sold before November 2009 | Video

Kolcraft Contours Options three- and four-wheeled strollers

phil&teds USA sport v2 and classic v1 single-seat jogging strollers

Whenever you open or close a stroller or one of its parts, like the canopy, keep your child’s hands away. Here are a few suggestions:

• Hand the child a cup or toy to hold.
• Play “hands up” as you open the stroller and “hands down” as you open the canopy.
• Sing a counting song before your child can get into the stroller. “One, two, touch your shoe; three, four, stroller’s ready; five, six, time to sit.” Open the stroller while you are counting.

Tweet other ideas that promote stroller safety to @OnSafety and we’ll retweet some of our favorites.

Reader Note: Blog originally published on June 14, 2012. Updated July 24, 2012

You need to know about cord hazards, so you can prevent your baby from strangling in a cord.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) is working with us on a national baby safety campaign to get the word out to parents and caregivers about the dangers with these cords. Today, JPMA is launching a website, video and advertising. They are giving away free electric cord warning labels to attach to the cord of your baby monitor. This label will remind you, the people who care for your child, and others who may use the monitor in the future about the deadly hazard associated with these cords. Order one, it’s free!

So, take a look around your baby’s crib. Where’s the monitor cord?

Remember, at least 3 feet away is where your monitor should stay.

Yes, 3 feet. As in 3 big feet:

3 Feet is also about the width of your baby’s crib plus 6 inches.

3 feet = 1 yard, if you have a yardstick at home:

The point is, don’t let this happen in your home:

“The pajamas fail to meet the federal flammability standards for children’s sleepwear posing a risk of burn injury to children.”

What does that line mean for a parent or grandparent buying pajamas for a child?

CPSC enforces a regulation that requires that children’s sleepwear to protect children from burn injuries if they come in contact with a small open flame, such as from matches, lighters, candles, stoves, ranges, space heaters and fireplaces.

The regulation was enacted in the early 1970s in response to children suffering burn injuries, which typically happened before bedtime and around breakfast. Today, CPSC rarely receives reports of sleepwear-related fires.

When you buy pajamas, you’ll see two types: loose-fitting and tight-fitting. Loose fitting pajamas must be flame resistant. That means that the fabric shouldn’t ignite near a small, open flame. And if it does ignite, it should stop burning.  Some loose-fitting items are nightgowns, loungewear, robes or any loose clothing intended to be worn mainly for sleeping.

Tight-fitting pajamas fit close to a child’s body. The fabric does not need to be flame resistant because of how it fits. Tight-fitting pajamas do not ignite easily, and if the pajamas ignite, they do not readily burn. You should always see a label on these pajamas telling you to wear them snugly.

CPSC tests children’s sleepwear in our product testing lab. Here’s what happens with sleepwear that meets the standard versus sleepwear that doesn’t:

If you own any of the pajamas recalled, take the pajamas away from your children. Contact the recalling company for a refund, exchange or store credit as described in the recalls.

Look at your child’s jackets, sweatshirts and sweaters. See nothing unusual? Now, look again. Do they have drawstrings?

For reasons we show below, CPSC passed a rule in July 2011, designating most drawstrings in children’s upper outerwear as hazardous. This essentially means that you shouldn’t see for sale, and your child shouldn’t wear, jackets, sweatshirts and sweaters with dangerous drawstrings. That means no neck or hood drawstrings for upper outerwear in sizes 2T through 12 or S through L. In addition, certain waist or bottom drawstrings are considered dangerous.

These waist drawstrings and the hood drawstrings above are what you should not see on your child’s clothes.

With waist drawstrings, there are three things to look for:

• When the clothing is at its fullest width, the drawstring should not hang out more than 3 inches.
• There shouldn’t be any toggles or other attachments on the drawstring.
• The drawstring must be stitched into the back so that it cannot be pulled to one side.

Here’s why:

Drawstrings can catch on items such as playground equipment or vehicle doors. CPSC has received 26 reports of children who have died when drawstrings in their clothes got tangled on playground slides, school bus doors and other objects. Waist and bottom drawstrings that were caught in cars and buses resulted in dragging incidents.

CPSC first issued guidelines on drawstrings in February 1996. These were then incorporated into a voluntary standard in 1997. Since the clothing industry started following the voluntary standard, deaths involving neck or hood drawstrings  decreased by 75 percent and there have been no deaths associated with waist or bottom drawstrings.

Still, we continue to see jackets, sweatshirts, and sweaters made with drawstrings that are dangerous. CPSC has issued more than 130 recalls involving clothes with drawstrings including 8 recalls between November 2011 and May 8, 2012. Here are some recalls from  just the past month (as of publication of this blog). So, check your child’s upper outerwear and make sure to follow the instructions on these recalls.

If you don’t remove that film, or don’t even realize it’s on a toy, your child could find it before you do. They could mouth it and gag, or even choke on it.

That’s what reportedly happened to two young children playing in their Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Jumperoo bouncy seats. The mirror on the toy comes with a plastic film cover on it. A Washington state family told a Seattle TV station that they didn’t realize the plastic was on the toy until their son gagged, couldn’t breathe and eventually coughed it up.

In the middle of the plastic film that arrived on this type of toy examined at CPSC was a separate clear sticker with a big red X. The X sticker can pull off without grabbing the plastic film on the toy mirror. On one side of the plastic film is an arrow that points at the X. Again, a parent can pull the arrow off without pulling off the plastic film.

If you see the film on a mirror or other product without an arrow or “X” to guide you to remove it, you might not even realize that the plastic cover is there. So, take an extra look at your children’s toys. Are there mirrors or scratchable surfaces that seem like they should be shiny but aren’t? If so, look for a thin piece of plastic, remove it and throw it away.

This piece of plastic on a child's toy is thin and difficult to notice if you've removed the arrow. Remove plastic like this from all items that you give to your young child.

Other “grown-up toys” like cellphones, video monitors and even stainless steel appliances, have similar plastic film coverings. In all cases, don’t let the “new toy” distract you from carefully removing and discarding the film if you have a small child in your home.

While working through the safety of these swings, CPSC staff has assembled some interesting information for new moms and dads:

First, when you bring your new baby home, remember that newborns and young infants don’t have the muscle tone or strength to keep their heads up. So, when you put them into a swing, make sure that your baby is lying down.

It’s likely that you’ll see this warning on your swing: “Use only in the most reclined seat position until infant can hold head up unassisted.”

That warning is there to alert you to a safety concern. Infants who are placed sitting up can end up in a slumped-over position that blocks their breathing. Of 15 deaths related to infant swings between January 2002 and May 18, 2011, five infants died from being slumped over. Moms, Dads: An upright swing is not a safe spot for your infant to sleep.

Restraints, meanwhile, accounted for the highest proportion of injuries. Have any of you had this happen in your swing?

• Your baby leans forward or sideways and falls or nearly falls out of the seat.
• Your baby leans back, causing the seat to tilt backwards. Your baby then slides out backwards onto his or her head.

If you’ve seen this happen, you aren’t alone. Both of these are common. Here’s some information from CPSC staff:

“As infants start to learn to sit up on their own, they tend to lean forward in the swing. If the infant leans forward while the swing is moving backwards, the infant’s upper body can fall out of the swing. A number of the incidents reported finding the infant hanging upside down with the waist/crotch restraint still attached.”

Infant swing manufacturers have begun making swings with a 5-point harness. CPSC staff believes that this restraint could help prevent babies from falling or getting trapped in a swing.

Consider these hazards when you are buying a new or used infant swing and know that CPSC staff is working hard to strengthen the safety standard for these products and make it mandatory.

Are you putting your infant in a Bumbo seat that looks like this, on an elevated surface? If so, STOP and read this warning.

NEVER put a Bumbo baby seat on a table, countertop, chair or other elevated surface.

ONLY put an infant in a Bumbo seat if it is on a floor.

Infants placed in Bumbo seats can escape from the seat by arching their backs, leaning forward or sideways or rocking. Infants age 3 to 10 months old have suffered serious head injuries—such as a skull fracture or concussion—from falling from a Bumbo baby seat when this happens.

CPSC and Bumbo International are aware of at least 45 incidents in which infants fell out of Bumbo seat while it was being used on an elevated surface. These incidents happened after an October 2007 voluntary recall of the product to add a warning on the front of the seat against use on elevated surfaces.

Since the recall, CPSC and Bumbo International have learned that 17 of those infants, ages 3 to 10 months, suffered skull fractures. These incidents and injuries involved both recalled Bumbo seats and Bumbo seats sold after the recall with the additional on-product warnings.

CPSC and Bumbo International are also aware of an additional 50 reports of infants falling or maneuvering out of Bumbo seats used on the floor and at unknown elevations. These incidents include two reports of skull fractures and one report of a concussion that occurred when infants fell out of Bumbo seats used on the floor. These injuries reportedly occurred when the infants struck their heads on hard flooring, or in one case, on a nearby toy.

At the time of the 2007 recall announcement, CPSC was aware of 28 falls from the product, three of which resulted in skull fractures to infants who fell or maneuvered out of the product used on an elevated surface.

CPSC and Bumbo International are now aware of at least 46 falls from Bumbo seats used on elevated surfaces that occurred prior to the 2007 recall, resulting in 14 skull fractures, two concussions and one incident of a broken limb.

About 3.85 million Bumbo seats have been sold in the U.S. since 2003.

A look at YouTube shows babies sitting in the seats on all sorts of unsafe surfaces: tables, bathroom counters, kitchen counters and couches and even in a kiddie pool. These are NOT safe ways to use this product.

Play yards have been involved in about 50 deaths and about 2,000 non-fatal incidents, including 165 incidents that resulted in injuries such as cuts and bruises since November 2007. The majority of the infant deaths were 1-year-old or younger. New standards are aimed at reducing the risk of injury and death.

To protect your baby, know the risks. Deaths associated with play yards included children who climbed out of the play yard and drowned in a nearby pool. Caregivers should remember that play yards are meant for children who are less than 35 inches tall and who cannot climb out of the play yard. 

Other play yard deaths include entrapment from a collapsed play yard, strangulation from a looped strap hanging in the play yard and a child found entrapped between an unfolded mattress pad and the play yard floor liner.

Consumers should be especially careful about play yard attachments. Changing tables and bassinet attachments must be carefully installed. CPSC has received reports describing how the corner of bassinets detached from the frame of the play yard. Caregivers are reminded to review warning labels and instruction materials carefully when assembling play yards and play yard accessories, like bassinets. 

About 90% of incident reports describe the collapse of the play yard’s side rail. If the side rail collapses, a child can get their neck entrapped in the collapsed side rail, lose their footing and strangle. Side rail collapses also are dangerous because children can escape and may be injured outside the play yard.

Unfortunately, even a new federal standard can’t fully protect your baby from an unsafe sleep environment, so it’s up to you to keep the environment free of suffocation hazards.  The primary cause of play yard deaths is babies being placed in an unsafe sleep environment full of soft or extra bedding, such as pillows, quilts and comforters. Always remember a bare environment is best! 

Another leading cause of death is infants being placed face down. Babies should always be placed on their backs in a safe sleep environment such as a crib or play yard that meets current standards.

Caregivers also should ensure that play yards are placed away from window blind cords or computer cords that can fall into the play yard and strangle children inside.

To keep your baby safe check CPSC’s website for play yard and other nursery product recalls. Visit www.CPSC.gov/cribs for additional resources and safety information and sign up to get e-mail notification on recalls.

The right way to bathe your baby: Always within arm’s reach.

A few inches of water. A short lapse in supervision.

That’s all it takes for a child to drown.

Maybe mom, dad or the caregiver left the bathroom to answer the phone. Maybe they left to get a towel. Maybe an older sibling was left to watch a younger one.

These are some of the reasons bathtubs are the second-leading location, after pools, where young children drown.

A new report from CPSC shows that there were 431 in-home drowning deaths involving children younger than 5 years old from 2005 to 2009. The majority of the victims were younger than age 2. Most of the incidents (a startling 83 percent) involved bath or bath-related products.

You can prevent these drownings from happening. Here’s how:

• NEVER leave young children alone near any water for ANY amount of time. EVER. As we mentioned above, young children can drown in even small amounts of water.

• ALWAYS keep a young child within arm’s reach in a bathtub. If you must leave the room, take the child with you.

• Don’t leave a baby or young child in a bathtub under the care of another young child.

• Never leave a bucket containing even a small amount of liquid unattended. Toddlers are top-heavy and they can fall headfirst into buckets and drown. After you use a bucket, always empty it and store it where young children cannot reach it. Don’t leave buckets outside where they can collect rainwater.

• Learn CPR. It can be a lifesaver when seconds count.

Phil&teds and CPSC have received 19 reports of the chairs falling off a variety of different table surfaces, resulting in five injuries. Two reports of injuries involved children’s fingers being severely pinched, lacerated, crushed or amputated. Three other reports involved bruising injuries that occurred when a child struck the table or floor after the chair suddenly detached.

Here’s what happens:

Chairs can detach from a variety of different table surfaces because of missing or worn clamp pads. When one side of the chair detaches and falls, children’s fingers can get caught between the front bar and the clamping mechanism. Here’s what the problem looks like:

User instructions for the chairs are inadequate, too, and can increase the likelihood of consumer misuse.

Stop using the chairs immediately and call the company toll-free at (877) 432-1641 or visit the company’s website at: www.philandteds.com/support to receive a free new repair kit. The new kit includes new rubber clamp pads and rubber boots and plastic spacers, plus tools and instructions for installing the new pieces onto the chair. The repair kit also comes with revised instructions on how to use the chair correctly. All consumers who have these chairs should get revised instructions from the website.

Even if you previously received a repair kit from phil&teds with only rubber boots, you should stop using the chair and get the NEW repair kit. The old kit you received from the company does not include all of the parts necessary to prevent the fall and amputation hazards.

Do you see that video baby monitor cord? Yes, the one the baby has in his hand.

Cords close to your baby’s crib are not safe.

Yes, it’s tempting. Parents reviewing video monitors online report placing monitors at the edge of the crib to get a close-up image of their child sleeping: Read some examples:

“We didn’t want to put a perminant (sic) screw into the edge of the crib, so I have the base of the camera attached to the end of the crib with clear tape, which works well enough for now I guess.”

“Our baby monitor … broke when our little one managed to knock it over off his crib.”

“For watching your child close up (e.g. to see if he/she’s breathing or not) you do need to be pretty close to him/her (we just have it at the edge of the crib)….”

Do NOT place corded video cameras or audio or movement monitor receivers in cribs or on crib rails. Infants have strangled and died after becoming tangled in cords, like this:

CPSC knows of 7 deaths and 3 near strangulations since 2002 involving baby monitors. These include video, audio and movement monitors. In addition, CPSC has received reports of at least a dozen other incidents in which babies and young children accessed monitors or monitor cords – that were either in the crib or close enough to the crib for a young child to grab.

Some monitors have permanent warning labels on the product or cord. Others, like some Summer Infant corded video baby monitors, do not have a prominent warning label on the camera or the cord.

Always keep ALL cords and monitor parts out of the reach of babies and young children. Think about 3 feet from any side of the crib –- top, bottom and all four sides.

When buying a video monitor, look for one that takes the picture from far away. The further away the camera and its cord are from your baby or toddler, the safer your child will be. If you use a movement monitor, make sure the cords are taut and not dangling to reduce the strangulation risk. The manufacturers’ instructions show parents how to handle the cords.

CPSC urges parents and caregivers to immediately check the location of your baby monitors, including those mounted on the wall, to make sure that the electrical cords are out of the child’s reach. Check that location periodically to make sure the cords stay out of reach as your child grows.

Video:

Those of you who already own cribs that do not meet the requirements of this new rule — especially drop-side cribs — need to know what to do with your cribs or the cribs that you need to buy in the next six months.

First, it’s important to remember that a non-recalled, sturdy crib is the SAFEST place for your baby to sleep. Second, if you own a drop-side crib regularly check your crib for safety. 

While CPSC staff cannot say that every drop-side crib is hazardous, based on investigations of incidents we have received, agency staff believes that most drop-side cribs are more prone to mechanical failure than similarly designed fixed-side cribs.

Some drop-side crib manufacturers have immobilizers that fit their cribs. Drop-side crib immobilizers are devices that are used to secure drop sides to prevent dangerous situations in which the drop side either partially or fully detaches from the crib.

As part of a recall, CPSC staff works with companies to provide fixes, or remedies, for products. For drop-side cribs, that remedy has been immobilizers.

Here’s a list of companies that have recalled their cribs and are providing immobilizers to secure the drop side on the cribs. These immobilizers were evaluated and approved by CPSC staff for use with these particular drop-side cribs.

If your drop-side crib manufacturer is not on this list, call the manufacturer and ask if they are making an immobilizer for your crib. Remember, though, that those particular immobilizers have not been tested or evaluated by CPSC staff for use with your specific crib.

The following crib manufacturers have recalled cribs for which immobilizers are not available. In some cases, there may be other remedies or recommendations of what to do with your crib.

CPSC staff believes there are risks associated with crib or play yard tents. Over time and with children pulling on them, the tents can wear.

Today’s recall of 20,000 Cozy Indoor Outdoor Portable Playard Tents Plus Cabana Kitsis a reminder and warning to all parents who use crib and play yard tents.

A 2-year-old boy from Maine was found hanging with his neck entrapped between the play yard frame and the metal rod base of the tent. The tent had been partly tied by pieces of nylon rope and partly attached by clips supplied by the manufacturer. The tent was tied to the play yard because the child was able to pop off the clips. The child apparently became entrapped while trying to climb out of the play yard. The manufacturer promoted this product as a way to keep a child in the play yard.

In other incidents involving the Tots in Mind play yard tent, parents reported that their children broke or removed clips when trying to get out. The manufacturer is offering new, stronger clips for the recalled tent.

CPSC staff believes there are risks associated with crib or play yard tents. Over time and with children pulling on them, the tents can wear. Zippers can break. Seams can tear. Clips can break, bend or get lost. The mesh or fabric can rip. Parents should monitor these products closely for damage and stop using them if they are damaged in any way.

Children have become tangled and trapped in damaged tents used to try to keep them in. Since late 2007, CPSC has received at least 10 reports of incidents involving tents used on cribs and play yards, including one death and one near death.

Parents who use any crib or play yard tent should only use the attachment equipment that comes with the tent, nothing more. Do not tie tents to hold them in place. Tents that are torn, ripped, have any missing pieces or are in any type of disrepair are dangerous for your child.