Crib Injuries

WebMD
Nearly 10,000 children are taken to the emergency room each year — an average of one every hour — after falling or becoming wedged or caught in cribs, playpens, and bassinets, a new study shows.

“It’s certainly a very common source of injury,” says study researcher Gary A. Smith, MD, DrPH, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “We also recognize that this is an underestimate,” Smith says, because the study only looked at injuries reported to emergency rooms, not those treated by urgent care centers, doctors in private practice, or those that went without treatment at all. “So we’ve got a real problem.” ‹READ MORE›


NBC News
Almost 10,000 infants and toddlers are hurt in crib and playpen accidents each year, according to the first nationwide analysis of emergency room treatment for these injuries.

Most injuries were from falls in toddlers between ages 1 and 2 — generally old enough to attempt climbing out of a crib or playpen. ‹READ MORE›


Pediatrics
This study is the first to use a nationally representative sample to examine injuries associated with cribs, playpens, and bassinets. Given the consistently high number of observed injuries, greater efforts are needed to ensure safety in the design and manufacture of these products, ensure their proper usage in the home, and increase awareness of their potential dangers to young children. ‹READ MORE›


U.S. News
Each year in the United States, nearly 10,000 children under the age of 2 arrive in emergency rooms with injuries suffered while in cribs, playpens and bassinets, a new report shows.

Most of these injuries involve cribs and are usually caused by kids climbing out and falling on the floor, said the researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. ‹READ MORE›


Washington Post
Data published this morning in the journal Pediatrics reveals the alarming frequency of injuries to babies who have been placed in cribs, playpens or bassinets.

A review of emergency-room treatments for more than 181,000 babies age 2 and under from 1990 to 2008 showed an average of 113 deaths per year from accidents associated with those three pieces of nursery equipment. That number, which is considered low because such deaths are typically under-reported — is far higher than should be acceptable, the authors note. But they are not especially surprising, as such fatalities have been tracked before. ‹READ MORE›


The New York Times
A crib should be a safe place to leave an infant, but every day dozens of babies are injured in falls from cribs, according to what may be the first study focusing on nonfatal crib-related injuries in children younger than 2.

In 9 of 10 cases, the child was alone when the fall occurred; most of the injuries were to the head and neck. ‹READ MORE›


CNN
A baby’s crib is often one of the few places where parents can place their child and feel OK leaving the baby unattended. It’s the focal point of most nurseries, a must-have item on many baby registries. Yet an average of 26 children suffer a crib-related injury every day, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.

“The most significant findings for me was the number of injuries,” said Dr. Gary A. Smith, lead author of the study and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “I didn’t expect to see 9,500 children a year treated in emergency departments for crib-related injuries.” ‹READ MORE›


ABC News
Parents believe cribs are one of the safest places they can leave their kids, and while that’s still true, parents need to take precautions when it comes to cribs. According to new statistics from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 10,000 infant ER visits a year are because of crib malfuntiontions or mishaps. What’s more, 100 infants and toddlers each year die as a result of unsafe sleeping environments.

Conner Smith almost became one of these statistics. A year ago, his mother, Kelly Smith, 27, went to check on Conner, then a year old, and his twin brother, Ethan. She found Conner dangling through a broken slot in his crib. His shirt, caught on the broken piece, was strangling him and he was turning blue. ‹READ MORE›