WASHINGTON – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued yet another recall of Simplicity Inc. products, this time for 400,000 drop side cribs.

The safety agency said the crib’s plastic hardware can break or deform, causing the drop side to detach. When the crib side detaches it creates space between the drop side and the crib mattress.

The CPSC is aware of 26 incidents involving the drop side detaching from the crib, including one previously reported incident in which an 8-month-old child suffocated to death.

This recall involves all drop side cribs with a different or “newer” style of plastic hardware from those cribs recalled in September 2007. The products, manufactured in China, were sold between January 2005 and June 2009.

Read the CPSC’s recall notice which includes illustrations of the defective cribs.

Read CPSC’s information sheet summarizing all Simplicity product recalls issued between May 2005 and July 2009.

Read Wood & Wood Products Associate Publisher Rich Christianson’s May 2009 editorial about drop down cribs.