Newborns are a blessing to their parents, but that does not mean that they are not a lot of work. Exhausted parents all across Pennsylvania have undoubtedly spent many sleepless nights attempting to soothe their cranky babes to sleep or researching causes for their little ones’ distress. Because babies can be such handfuls, it is not uncommon for parents to jump at the chance to purchase products that claim to ease the difficulties of caring for newborns. Although many of these products can be godsends for stressed mothers and fathers others can come into their homes with dangers no parent could anticipate.
Not that long ago, drop-side cribs were the latest fad in American parenting. A drop-side crib is one in which a parent may lower a side of their baby’s crib to place the baby in it or remove the baby from the bed. Rather than requiring parents to lift and carefully lower their infants into their cribs, drop-side cribs permitted parents to ease their little ones into their best in a more comfortable, natural way.
However, drop-side cribs were not the miracle product so many initially loved. Babies began to suffer serious injuries, and some were even killed, when the lowering mechanisms of their cribs broke and the babies became trapped between their cribs and mattresses. In 2011, the Consumer Product Safety Commission voted to ban drop-side cribs due to their inherent danger and the risks they pose to infants.
Manufacturers are no longer allowed to produce drop-side cribs and this examination of a major product problem is offered to illuminate the issue of hidden dangerous in everyday consumer products. When consumer products cause individuals to suffer injuries and death those victims may have products liability claims against the party or parties that caused the products to enter the stream of commerce.