New Safety Standards Issued by CPSC for Bassinets and Cradles
If you have an infant that is in a bassinet or a cradle, then you will want to review the new safety standards issued by CPSC Consumer Product Safety Commission on September 30th. According to the announcement, the CPSC has approved new federal mandatory standards that will improve the safety of bassinets and cradles sold all throughout the United States.
The new federal standard incorporates provisions in the voluntary standard and will clarify the scope of that standard and change the pass/fail criterion for mattress flatness. Also, there is now an exemption to the mattress flatness requirement for bassinets that are less than 15 inches across. The new standards also include the addition of a removable bassinet stability requirement, and change the stability test procedures so that companies are now required to use a newborn CAMI dummy for test, rather than an infant CAMI dummy.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received 426 reports of bassinet/cradle incidents that resulted in serious injury or death. 132 of these fatalities resulted in death between November 2007 and March 2013. The new standards by the CPSC define a bassinet and cradle as a small bed that is designed to provide a sleeping accommodation for a small infant. This is supported by freestanding legs and a stationary frame or stand.
The bassinet or cradle should not be used for a child when he or she is beyond the age of about 5 months or when the child is old enough to push up on his or her hands or knees. Many parents will place older babies into these cribs and the children can be injured in a collapse as a result. If your child was injured after being placed in a cradle or bassinet, and you believe that it is a product manufacturing error, then contact a New York City personal injury lawyer at the CPSC today to learn more about your case!