Friday, November 27, 2009

my thoughts on the crib recall

As you may have heard, this week there was a massive crib recall  in both Canada and the US. The recall concerns 2.1 million Storkcraft drop-side cribs. That's A LOT OF CRIBS. This picture (taken from the CBC web site) shows the potential hazard:



I have two problems with this.

First off, why is the railing installed upside down in the first place?? Shouldn't that be considered user error? Would someone actually bend all the way down to raise and lower the side?

Secondly, I can't see how one of those side rails would given way under the weight of a baby simply rolling into it or leaning on it. In my mind, for this to happen, it would likely take a toddler. Likely a jumping/pushing/pulling/kicking toddler. And not likely a toddler who is jumping/pushing/pulling/kicking QUIETLY. And once said child did manage to get themselves stuck like this, I can't imagine them being QUIET about being in that position.

Do you see where I'm going with this? I almost hate to say it because I would hate to add any pain or guilt onto parents who are already suffering one of the absolute worst experiences a person can go through (remember, I know what it's like to lose a child), but if they'd checked on their baby when they were jumping/pushing/pulling/kicking and likely yelling or screaming, would they have prevented harm to their child? Why does our society insist that it's okay to let a baby cry?

There's no way to know all of the circumstances surrounding the reported deaths. I  know I'm jumping to some conclusions. But even without knowing the specifics, I know that many parents out there will put their babies to sleep in their crib, on their own, alone in their room. We're told it's normal and even necessary for babies (even very young infants) to sleep in their crib, on their own, in their own room. We force independent sleep on our babies straight from birth in many cases. We're told we need to "train" our babies to sleep on their own. This sleep training almost always involves crying. In their cribs, on their own, alone in their room.

Why is it that North American society is so insistent on this? Parents in almost all other societies and cultures share rooms with their babies IF NOT BEDS. The Canadian Government's Health Canada even went so far as to opt against a crib recall because of fears it would lead to co-sleeping.

You know, I haven't even bothered to check our crib make and model., although I bet it's one of the defective ones. I'll tell you why. Andrew's crib is in our room, two feet from my pillow. Even if our crib is effected by the recall, I do not feel that Andrew is at risk. I wake up when he coughs.  When he sighs. There is NO WAY he'd be able to hurt himself without me knowing. For naps, I go to him within minutes of him waking. He doesn't even have time to stand up, let alone shake the bars hard enough to break them loose. He is not left alone in his crib while I do housework/cook/clean/watch TV/check email. He's not left alone in his crib to cry it out in the hope of training him to be a better sleeper (and for the record, he's a pretty awful sleeper).

I just don't see how the above pictured scenario could occur without there being noise involved. Noise that the parents didn't check on, for whatever reason. When the noise stopped, I imagine they assumed their child had gone to sleep. And when they went to rouse their sleeping baby... they found every parents' worst nightmare.

I hope that this is not coming across as uncaring or unfeeling towards those parents who lost children. Although Nathaniel's death was not a tragic accident, it was still tragic. Although I know the pain those parents are feeling, I can't imagine the guilt of knowing that their child's death could have been preventable.

I think we, as a society, need to re-examine how we use cribs and why we use them. I just don't think that different cribs are the answer.




 I wanted to add this comment that Julie from Coffee with Julie left:
Hi Amy -


Just as FYI, all four deaths involved young babies (6 mo, 7 mo, 7 mo, and 9 mo), not toddlers.


My understanding is that the deaths had no resemblance whatsoever to this image, so I can't understand why it is the most pervasive image being shown. I understand that there was a space between the crib mattress and the crib side bar (i.e. the mattress and bar did not make a tight perpendicular line) and baby slipped into this crack between the two and suffocated. With this kind of scenario, it is easy to imagine a young baby (already asleep, not necessarily crying) slipping into the space and simply not waking up despite lack of air/face pushed against mattress.


The image does show user error -- installed upside down -- and the product is being cited, among other things, as too complicated to install/put together. I don't think this image is the most helpful, it's just the most shocking I suppose, so it gets used.


Julie
The picture is totally misleading then! The media really drives me crazy. The doll used in the picture above would compare to at least a 12-18 month old, I'd guess, and I have no idea why they'd show the drop-side rail installed upside down if this wasn't the issue in any of the cases. Do you know whether the mattresses in the cases where an infant died were the right size? There's no way even a tiny baby could roll or push its way in between our side bar and the mattress without the side completely breaking free.

And in response to Cath in Ottawa's comment (thank you for your heartfelt comment, Cath), to be honest, I was a bit uncomfortable writting this post, so I know where you're coming from. And maybe I didn't express myself well. The last thing I would want to do is heap guilt onto an already grief-striken parent. I do take issue with a society that insists that it's okay and normal -and even necessary- for a baby to cry itself to sleep. If parents were taught and encouraged to respond to their baby's cries, perhaps some of these awful, tragic deaths may have been avoided.

7 comments:

  1. Very interesting comments. We don't let our babies sleep in their own rooms until 5 months or so (when they both seem to have started refusing to sleep when in our rooms... ugh). I'm also not a cry-it-out person and have always wondered how someone attempting that method can tell the difference between anger at being left alone and actual distress (emotional or otherwise). I know it's a touchy subject (part of the so-called Mommy Wars?) but you raise some good points.

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  2. Hi Amy -

    Just as FYI, all four deaths involved young babies (6 mo, 7 mo, 7 mo, and 9 mo), not toddlers.

    My understanding is that the deaths had no resemblance whatsoever to this image, so I can't understand why it is the most pervasive image being shown. I understand that there was a space between the crib mattress and the crib side bar (i.e. the mattress and bar did not make a tight perpendicular line) and baby slipped into this crack between the two and suffocated. With this kind of scenario, it is easy to imagine a young baby (already asleep, not necessarily crying) slipping into the space and simply not waking up despite lack of air/face pushed against mattress.

    The image does show user error -- installed upside down -- and the product is being cited, among other things, as too complicated to install/put together. I don't think this image is the most helpful, it's just the most shocking I suppose, so it gets used.

    Julie

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  3. Hey Amy. I am not sure if you will remember who I am (Melissa "Williams" from old Hillsdale Alliance days) but I just wanted to say that I came across your blog one day and I have been "creeping" every since! I hate creeping, so I decided to say hi! You are very talented, keep it up!

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  4. I really enjoy your blog but feel kind of uncomfortable about this post. We co-sleep / attachment parent and I'm in agreement with the overall sentiments you're expressing, but with absolute respect, I don't think they're applicable here. Maybe it's because I keep thinking about that poor mother at Pearson airport and how she's going to spend the rest of her life second-guessing herself (and goodness knows, if we're good at anything as mothers, it's second-guessing ourselves) that I'm feeling sensitive about these kinds of links being drawn. Anyway, just a reaction from a dedicated reader, for what it's worth! Cath in Ottawa

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  5. Hi Amy -

    This image is a likely representation of the how some of the injuries (not deaths) associated with incorrect installation of the sidebar have occurred or can occur.

    It is easy to imagine this scenario: child falls between bar and bed (like image shown), child cries, parent immediately goes to the room and rescues child from situation.

    Since there were far more injuries than deaths, there can be a case made for why this image is being used in the media.

    As for your question re mattresses used in the infant deaths, I don't have the answer. All I know is that because the sidebar of this type of crib is able to become loose and not keep a tight line with the mattress, these deaths have occurred. The company is now providing a "fix kit" to ensure that the sidebar can no longer become loose. The reason that it's impossible on your crib is probably the reason that these particular cribs are being recalled and not all side-bar cribs (like yours).

    Hope that helps answer your questions in the post. I have no "insider info" here, just the info from the government-issued releases to the public.

    Julie

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  6. This was a very insensitive post to have written. How dare you presume to know anything about how these four babies died? And then have the nerve to criticize the parents? And then pretend you have any idea about what they have gone through. Insensitive.

    Did you do ANY research before you wrote this post? It is blatantly obvious you didn't.

    It wasn't until recently that I stumbled upon your blog and, for the most part, was enjoying your posts (except for your ill-researched H1N1 post). But, unfortunately I will be ceasing to read your blog. There are just so many other 'well- researched and well-written' blogs out there for me to read.

    In the future, please do your research before you post ANYTHING! And, for goodness sakes, use spell check.

    Thanks,
    Erin
    Mother of 2 and one still-born.

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  7. I'll be honest... I understand the 'cry to sleep' thing a little. My baby was colic, sometimes I just had to let her cry as I could not console her no matter what I did. She slept in our room till 8 weeks (rather well too... which I found interesting... may be the darkness of the room that she needed to sleep and you don't really have that in the day, even with blackout curtains), and I had to let her cry a little in the bassinet before she would fall asleep. But after that initial bit, she was fine. When she cries now, I go in to check on her (plus, I think that most parents can tell the difference in a 'give me attention' or 'stubborn' cry and a threatened cry...)

    Needless to say, the idea is scary. I have no idea what brand my crib is, and after finding out about the recal, my husband immediately went to check it again and as he figured, it's fine. TO think there is a recal on cribs... it's scary.

    Something I found interesting is that some of the leading cause in infant deaths occur when we cannot hear our child... like choking or suffocating. Even with a monitor. I like to use prayer as my safety net in these situations... I just cannot control everything as a mom... :)

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