WASHINGTON — After the deaths of more than 30 infants and toddlers in the past decade and millions of recalls, the government is banning the manufacture and sale of drop-side cribs, the Associated Press is reporting.
The new standard requiring cribs to have fixed sides will take effect in June.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission also is banning the use of drop-side cribs in hotels and child care centers, although those facilities would have a year to buy new cribs.

Drop-side cribs have been used for generations because the movable side makes it easier for a parent to lift a baby into the crib. They have come under scrutiny because models with malfunctioning hardware, cheap plastics or assembly problems can lead to the side rail partially detaching, creating a gap where a baby can get caught and suffocate or strangle, the AP reported.

Drop-side cribs have been blamed in the deaths of at least 32 infants and toddlers since 2000 and are suspected in another 14 fatalities. In the past five years, more than 9 million drop-side cribs have been recalled.