Crib standard was developed, never adopted

CHICAGO — For much of the time babies fit in a crib, they try to get out of it. They kick at the drop rail during restless naps. They rattle it to get their parents' attention.

And yet crib manufacturers have no standard for tests to see how well the drop rail stays attached to the rest of the crib. A drop-rail flaw led to the deaths of at least three children and the recall Friday of 1 million potentially defective cribs.

Cribs are governed by mandatory federal and voluntary industry standards aimed at preventing suffocation.

Those regulations dictate the space allowed between spindles or slats on the side of the crib. They limit the height of corner posts and the size of decorative cutouts on headboards. And they forbid the use of lead paint.

But those standards do not include a so-called horizontal test for the drop rail. Such tests are required in Canada.

A similar standard was developed by Underwriters Laboratories. Consumer advocates say it would force manufacturers to build sturdier cribs and would prevent many of the deaths caused by hardware failures.

In 2001, that UL standard was discussed at a crib committee meeting of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), which sets the voluntary standards. Participants at that meeting said it was never adopted.

William Suvak, owner of Indiana-based Child Craft Industries and former chairman of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, emphasized that the ASTM standards are voluntary and that changing them would involve more tests, ultimately boosting costs.

"There are dollars involved. These things don't come cheap," he said. "If the cost goes through the roof and there is no driver to bring [manufacturers] to the table except to be good people, you may not get many people to the table."

Less than a week after the Chicago Tribune inquired about the lack of a horizontal-test standard, a member of an ASTM crib-standards panel e-mailed fellow members a proposal to consider just such a standard. The panel will meet next month.