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DEFECTIVE BABY CRIBS & CRIB DEATHS IN HOTELS & MOTELS

There are statistics detailing crib deaths in the home due to defective cribs, but no statistics are available on crib deaths due to defective cribs in hotels and motels. Not surprisingly, up to 80% of the hotels investigated across America have cribs and play yards which violate federal safety guidelines! Just as disturbing, only 14 out of over 250 hotel chains in the U.S. even signed on to participate in the Safe Crib Initiative which set out to promote crib safety. Critics are now bitterly disappointed and now more fearful than ever!

Very few of the national hotel chains investigated were found to be exempt from crib safety problems. In fact, most all of those investigated were found to have crib safety violations!

Beware of adult size bed sheets and pillows placed in cribs. If you use these, your child could get tangled up or wrapped up in them and suffocate! They are not supposed to be used in baby cribs.

Also look for missing screws in cribs, cracked legs, wobbly structures and loose hardware which could cause the crib to collapse unexpectedly or pinch your childs fingers or toes.

Moreover, by paying more for a hotel room does NOT always mean you will find a safer crib! After receiving complaints about crib safety, most all national hotel chains reported that their cribs meet all U.S. government safety standards despite all the problems found in the undercover camera investigation. So, are the federal safety standards for hotel cribs set too low? Do we need stricter laws? Critics complain that too many hotel and motel chains could possibly be playing Russian roulette with the lives of their patrons children!

SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: NBC TV DATELINE 5/15/01

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