Toys 'R' Us ups the ante on crib safety

WAYNE, N.J., Sept. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. retailer Toys "R" Us has upped the ante on crib safety, setting higher standards for the strength of cribs it is willing to sell, the company said.

Federal and voluntary industry standards set the rules for cribs, but Toys "R" Us, which sells hundreds of thousands of cribs a year, has decided to impose a wood density standard to ensure the strength of wood slats. It has also set standards for how the slats are attached to the cribs' frames, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

The retailer is large enough to have clout among crib makers and move other stores to follow suit with demands for higher standards, the Tribune reported.

"We saw that there were products that passed the existing standards but had problems in the real world," Toys "R" Us Chief Executive Officer Gerald Storch said.

The new standards are part of a reaction to several crib recalls, including a recall of 320,000 cribs made by Jardine Enterprises and sold at Toys "R" Us stores.

In 42 reports of broken slats in Jardine cribs, four children were reportedly trapped between the wider gap that resulted. Two of the children were cut and bruised. The others escaped injury.