US safety panel reviewing crib death of 2-year-old
Boy was strangled by mesh covering
Federal consumer safety specialists are investigating the death of a Massachusetts toddler who became entangled in a mesh covering placed on top of his crib while on a family visit to a Maine island.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which investigates deaths and serious injuries so that it can identify product dangers and alert consumers, began its review over the weekend, an agency spokesman said yesterday.
For several decades, the commission has issued warnings about the potential perils of mesh material on cribs. Between 1978 and 1985, when mesh was more commonly used in cribs, 15 children died when left in cribs or playpens with mesh siding, records show.
And just two months ago, the safety board recalled about 2,000 mesh-sided convertible cribs made by Playkids U.S.A. after a New York City infant died after getting caught between the mattress and a side rail.
"We want parents to understand how serious of a danger netting or a mesh side can be to a small child," said Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the federal commission. "It can potentially pose an entrapment hazard, it can potentially pose a suffocation hazard to a child."
Two-year-old Noah Thompson of Harvard had traveled with his parents to Vinalhaven, Maine, to mark the holidays last week, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman of the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The child was placed in a portable crib Friday evening, said McCausland. The police spokesman said authorities believe that the mesh top was not part of the crib and was purchased separately.
When the tot's mother, identified as Lisa Rosen, went to rouse him about 8 a.m. Saturday, she discovered him ensnared in the mesh top, which, apparently, was placed there to prevent him from roaming, McCausland said.
"He got his head out between the netting and the edge of the crib, and as he turned, the netting . . . strangled him," McCausland said in an interview yesterday.
Under Maine law, State Police investigators review all deaths of children under the age of 3; they quickly completed their probe of the case. "There will be no [criminal] charges in this tragic holiday accident," McCausland said. "It is simply what it is - an accident."
It is the first time that Maine authorities could recall such a death in their state.
A man answering the telephone yesterday at a home listed as belonging to Rosen and the boy's father, identified as Marc Thompson, said the family would not be commenting to the media on the death.
Wolfson said the Consumer Product Safety Commission will complete its review as quickly as possible "so that we can take an appropriate action to protect the safety of other children."
As part of the probe, investigators may inspect the crib and the mesh top and will consider other factors that may have contributed to the accident, Wolfson said.
Traditional cribs have, for the most part, abandoned mesh siding, Wolfson said, although some portable playpens continue to use the material.
"We would emphasize to all parents in the Greater Boston area to make sure that the sleeping environment is as safe as possible for their child," Wolfson said. "That is a critical time where all products, everything in the general environment needs to be as safe and secure as possible."
Because of incorrect information supplied by a spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, a story in Tuesday's Metro section about a Massachusetts child who was strangled in mesh netting placed atop a crib incorrectly identified the maker of the crib. The crib was made by Graco, according to a detective for the Maine police agency. The mesh top was made by a different company.
Stephen Smith can be reached at stsmith@globe.com. 