Health Canada ponders drop-side crib ban

Health Canada is considering a ban on drop-side cribs, saying they're dangerous to infants.

The cribs are popular with parents, because they allow one side to drop open, allowing infants to be placed in or taken out with ease.

If a Canadian ban is enacted, it would prohibit the sale and importation of drop-side cribs into Canada. The ban would also cover cribs sold in second-hand stores, flea markets and garage sales as well as online sites such as eBay, Craigslist and Kijiji.

"We believe than an outright ban on the traditional style of drop-side cribs may be required in order to better protect our children," Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a release.

Millions of the cribs have been recalled in Canada and the United States because the hardware that allows the gate to drop can easily break, allowing infants to fall out or become trapped in a gap between the crib's gate and the mattress.

In the past 10 years in North America, drop-side cribs have been implicated in the deaths of at least 32 infants and toddlers.

Health Canada knows of 90 drop-side crib incidents.

In the U.S., the Consumer Products Safety Commission has promised a ban on the cribs by the end of this year, while Health Canada has announced public consultations on a proposed ban.

'We believe than an outright ban on the traditional style of drop-side cribs may be required.' Leona Aglukkaq, health minister

"The safety of children's products, especially something as fundamental as a crib, is of the utmost importance to our government," Aglukkaq said.

"Our crib requirements are already among the strictest in the world, but in the past few years we have worked with industry to voluntarily recall several models of drop-side cribs," she said.