What kind of crib is safe? At least 95% of consumers don’t know what a safe crib is, because they only pay attention to cribs when they are planning to have a baby, and usually buy them 3-5 months in advance. At this time, they will ask their friends around them, what brand of crib your child uses? Note that the question here is the brand, how is the bed of this brand? Few people would think of understanding the safety standards of cribs, and what kind of crib is safe. Therefore, many are led astray by people around them when it comes to choosing a crib.
European and American countries were the first to implement the safety standards for best baby cribs. Our country’s safety standards for best baby cribs were formulated in 1999 and implemented on July 1, 2000. The standard number is QB/T 2453.2-1999. This standard applies to cribs and folding beds with an internal length of 900mm-1400mm, but not cradles and hammocks. *Note that it is not suitable for cradles and hammocks. When you see that many hot-selling baby cribs with low prices have a cradle or hammock on the bed, you should know that this kind of bed does not meet the safety standards. The safety test report given by the merchant may be false, which is the result of misidentification.
China’s crib safety standards are based on European standards . Let’s take a closer look at several important indicators in the crib safety standards.
1. Materials of Baby crib
Wood, wood-based materials, and plant-derived materials
A detailed explanation of these three materials:
1. Wood generally refers to solid wood (solid wood is environmentally friendly and durable, but the material and processing costs are high, especially for baby beds. The cost of solid wood guardrails of the same material is 3-4 times higher than that of multi-layer boards)
2. Materials based on wood (referring to various types of composite wood, such as multilayer boards (LVL boards) and plywood commonly used in cribs. Currently, more than 95% of cribs use multilayer boards and plywood because these materials are cheap and easy to process)
3. Materials derived from plants (such as bamboo, rattan, etc. Modern cribs rarely use these materials, and these materials are not easy to process and produce in large quantities)
4. Hardware: The hardware that comes into contact with the crib needs to be treated with anti-corrosion (for example, galvanizing the hardware screws to prevent the hardware from rusting during use and reducing the service life of the crib.)
2. Structure of best Baby crib
The following are several important structural safety
1. All edges need to be chamfered and rounded (most cribs can do this now, but whether they are smooth or not is another issue)
2. When the bed board is at the lowest level, the height from the bed guardrail should not be less than 600mm (the actual height of the guardrail should be greater than 600mm, because the bed board should not be lower than the bottom of the guardrail when it is at the lowest level, so the height of many small-sized baby crib guardrails cannot reach 600mm)
3. If there are carvings on the inside of the bed, the position of the carvings should be 600mm higher than the bottom level of the bed board (this kind of carving is rarely placed on the inside of the bed now)
4. If there are protruding parts on the inside of the bed, the protrusion from the vertical plane cannot be greater than 5mm (this is a problem that is easily overlooked in the design of cribs. Only professional crib furniture designers who are proficient in crib safety regulations will understand this. Therefore, whether the crib is safe starts from the design, so it is very important to choose a professional crib manufacturer)
5. The casters should have at least 2 brakes (there are many types of casters, and many plastic casters used in cribs have low load-bearing capacity and are easy to break. It is best to use load-bearing casters to prevent the baby from falling due to broken casters)
6. The height of the bed board must be adjusted with tools (many low-priced baby beds use plastic, wooden or metal supports, but they are not connected to the bed board. They just hold the bed board and there is no hardware connection between the bed board and the bed board. This is the most dangerous because the hardware connecting the bed body will loosen during use, causing the structure to loosen. In this way, the bed board will fall off the plastic support, and the consequences can be imagined)
3. Bed surface of Baby crib (bed board)
1. The gap between the bed board and the guardrail, and the gap between the bed board and the head of the bed cannot be greater than 25mm. (Why should there be a gap between the bed board and the guardrail? Generally, the upper horizontal thickness of the guardrail is not less than 20mm, and the horizontal thickness of the bed board is also not less than 20mm. If the guardrail is fixed and cannot be adjusted, then you don’t need to consider leaving a gap. If the guardrail is designed to be adjustable, then at least 10mm of adjustable spacing must be left. The crib needs to be placed with sheets, bedding, and mattresses, so at least 10-15mm of placement and operation space must be left, so the spacing between the guardrail and the bed board of the crib cannot be set greater than 25mm.
2. The spacing between the bed board strips cannot be greater than 60mm (Why can’t the bed board strips be designed as a whole piece of wood? Because the baby bed board needs to be breathable. Some are designed with a whole piece of multi-layer board and plywood, and some small holes are punched in the middle for ventilation)
3. If it is a metal mesh bed board, the wire diameter of the metal mesh should not be less than 2mm, and the mesh spacing should not be greater than 85mm (metal bed boards can be seen on most baby cribs exported to the United States. Chinese customers prefer wooden bed boards. In fact, metal bed boards are stronger than wooden bed boards, especially suitable for children who love to jump. Metal bed boards are similar to the material of metal trampolines)
4. Side panels (guardrails) and bedside
When the bed board is adjusted to the highest level, the distance from the top of the guardrail should not be less than 300mm (it should be said that this is not considered in the design of many low-priced baby beds)
The distance between the headboard and guardrail should not be less than 65mm and should not be less than 45mm.
If the material used is mesh, the diameter of the mesh cannot be greater than 7mm
5. Stability. When a child stands on one side of the bed, the legs or corners of the bed on the other side cannot leave the ground (when a crib is made of very light materials, or less wood is used to make the overall crib lighter, instability will occur)
6. The packaging, instructions for use, and product logos of the products are clearly stipulated in the safety regulations. (Generally, manufacturers will do this, but some may not do it in full accordance with safety standards)
Before Children’s Day this year, the Shanghai Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau conducted random inspections on baby cribs sold in major department stores. Only 31.3% of the 32 batches were qualified. Fifteen batches were sampled on the online sales platform, and the qualified rate was only 6.7%. Some well-known brands were also among the unqualified ones.
That’s all we have to say about China’s safety regulations for cribs for now. Later, when we have time, we will continue to introduce the differences between European and American safety regulations for cribs and Chinese safety regulations. We will also introduce which of polyester paint, nitro paint , water-based paint, wood wax oil, and lacquer is more environmentally friendly when used on cribs, as well as related content such as the use and purchase of cribs.
