2.1 Million Dropside Cribs Recalled

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday that 2.1 million dropside cribs by Stork Craft Manufacturing are being recalled, which is the biggest crib recall in history.

The recall involves 1.2 million cribs in the United States and another million in Canada where Stork Craft is based. Nearly 150,000 of the cribs carry a Fisher-Price label.

Parents and caregivers should immediately stop using the cribs and order a free repair kit from the company. The CPSC said not to fix the cribs without the repair kit.

The CPSC said that the cribs’ drop-side plastic hardware can break, deform, or parts can become missing. In addition, the drop-side can be installed upside-down, which can result in broken or disengaged plastic parts. All of these problems can cause the drop-side to detach in one or more corners. When the drop-side detaches, it creates space between the drop-side and the crib mattress. The bodies of infants and toddlers can become entrapped in the space which can lead to suffocation. Complete detachment of drop-sides can lead to falls from the crib.

CBS News reported that there is a major push to ban cribs with dropdown sides, which may be unsafe or even deadly for children.

More than 4.6 million cribs have been recalled by the CPSC since 2007

In July,  the CPSC recalled 400,000 Drop Side Cribs from Simplicity of Reading, Pa., after finding that faulty hardware on the side of the crib could detach and create a space where an infant could be trapped and suffocate. The CPSC reported the death of an 8-month-old child from Houston who died from suffocation.

This followed a crib recall of 1 million Simplicity cribs in 2007 and 2008 , also due to a drop side hazard.

CBS News reported the story of one child's death: 10-month-old Tyler Jonathan died in his crib after getting his head stuck in a gap between the side rail and headboard.

"[The crib is] every parent's safe-haven for their child, and to see the horrific site of him strangled ... was just horrifying to me," his mother, Michele Witte, told CBS News.

The death of 2 1/2-year-old Serenity Bergey in a similar manner is the center of a wrongful death lawsuit in Palm Beach County , Fla., brought against Simplicity by the child's mother.