New Crib Safety Standards

Beginning December 28, 2012 any crib provided by child care facilities and family child care homes MUST meet new and improved federal safety standards.

Most cribs manufactured before June 28, 2011 will NOT meet the new standards.
For a child care provider's guide to the new crib standards click here for the print-friendly flyer.

Press Release
December 17, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously to approve new mandatory standards for full-size and non-full-size baby cribs as mandated by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The federal crib standards had not been updated in nearly 30 years and these new rules are expected to usher in a safer generation of cribs.

Once they become effective, the mandatory crib standards will: (1) stop the manufacture and sale of dangerous, traditional drop-side cribs; (2) make mattress supports stronger; (3) make crib hardware more durable; and (4) make safety testing more rigorous.
CPSC has recalled more than 11 million dangerous cribs since 2007. Detaching drop-side rails were associated with at least 32 infant suffocation and strangulation deaths since 2000. Additional deaths have occurred due to faulty or defective hardware. These new standards aim to prevent these tragedies and keep children safe in their cribs.

Effective June 2011, cribs manufactured, sold, or leased in the United States must comply with the new federal standards. Effective 24 months after the rule is published, child care facilities, such as family child care homes and infant Head Start centers, and places of public accommodation, such as hotels and motels, must have compliant cribs in their facilities.

For more information on crib safety and safe sleep environments for baby, visit CPSC’s crib information center

print:   email:

Food Program greyarrow: Child Care Job Bank greyarrow: CCCC Training Calendar greyarrow: Local Investment In Child Care (LINCC) greyarrow: Resource Lending Library greyarrow: Resource & Referral (R&R) greyarrow: License-Exempt Provider Program