Looking for peace of mind

NEW GLASGOW - Word is getting around about the massive recall of Stork Craft cribs, which have resulted in the deaths of four infants in the United States.
The recall, which came out early this week, is for over two million cribs with plastic drop-side hardware. In the reported cases, the plastic mechanisms were coming detached, creating a space that infants slipped through. It has been reported in the U.S. and Canada that 15 infants were trapped in the space between the side of the crib and the mattress. Cases of this nature have been reported from as far back as 2001.
Three of these cases happened in Canada.
"Health Canada is recommending that that if you look at the crib and it's fine, you can still use it," said Sarah Blades, a health promotion specialist for Child Safety Link at the IWK in Halifax.
She said that Child Safety Link is going along with Health Canada's recommendations but said that the American recommendation is telling people the opposite.
According to the release from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, parents should find alternative sleeping arrangements for their infants immediately and not to leave them unattended in their cribs.
Blades said that parents wary of the cribs should try to borrow a crib from someone else, or find other safe sleeping arrangements for their child.
"Playpens aren't recommended for overnight sleeping," she said, and "car seats are never an option."
Blades said that any parent with a Stork Craft crib should contact Stork Craft as soon as possible to inquire about the recall and the fix.
Matt Wilson of New Glasgow tried several times yesterday to contact Stork Craft by phone but could not get through to them. He and his wife Liz have a three-week-old son named Gabe and they use a Stork Craft crib with a drop side.
"It's kind of disturbing," said Liz.
"It's not a recall on a toaster," said Matt, "You spend two, three, four hundred bucks and you expect something safe to put the youngest of kids in."
Both parents were concerned that there are two different policies out there right now as to whether children should be left to sleep in these cribs but they are not worried about Gabe for the moment as he is too young to really move around in his crib.
They are still frustrated with not being able to get through to the company however and are wary about the quality of the product.
"You shouldn't have to worry about what your kids sleep in at night," he said.
This isn't the first time a Stork Craft crib has caused problems in Pictou County though.
Matthew Little of New Glasgow was getting his son up from a nap in May 2008 when the wooden drop rail of his Stork Craft crib snapped.
It had also snapped out of the section where it was connected to the ends of the cribs. The space created would have been large enough for Little's son's head to become caught easily.
"The drop rail was attached correctly, but it just gave way," said Little. "There was obviously something wrong for a new crib that had been used for nine months to have that kind of damage."
Stork Craft proved to be very difficult to deal with in 2008 for Little.
The company offered to sell them some screws at a cost of $38 to repair the broken the rail and eventually a representative offered to sell Little a replacement rail. It took a letter to the president of Stork Craft, Jim Moore, to get a replacement rail sent to them free of charge.
"It's frustrating that they didn't seem to believe there was anything wrong with their product. And now we're a year and a half later, and there's finally a recall on these cribs." Little and his wife have warned their friends and family not to buy Stork Craft cribs.