If your family vacation involves babies and hotels then you should be aware of the results of a recent investigation that exposed the poor quality of hotel cribs… and the risk you are exposing your child to each time you place her in what experts are calling: “death traps.”
NBC News recently recruited a safety expert from Safe Kids Worldwide to visit some popular hotels and motels in the Maryland area and inspect two cribs per property. Here are the surprising results:
Best Western
The safety inspector immediately found flaws with the crib’s sheet. Instead, of covering the crib’s mattress with a fitted crib sheet, the hotel had merely covered the mattress with a regular adult sheet. Experts say that is a clear strangulation and suffocation hazard.
In addition, the crib’s plastic mattress cover was torn and parts of it were peeling off (a potential choking hazard). What’s worse, all but one of the mattress board’s safety straps were broken or not connected.
Comfort Inn
Here, the safety expert was given two wooden cribs, each containing an adult sheet. Upon further inspection the safety expert found a more serious concern. The crib’s wooden rails were chipped in several areas. In fact, on one crib, chunks of wood were missing from the frame, leading the expert to conclude, “This is a death trap to a child.”
Super 8 Motels
Crib number one not only came with a folded adult sheet, but also contained a pillow, which experts say pose a suffocation hazard. Meanwhile, the safety expert maintained that, “the second crib is just about the worst crib I’ve seen in my days.”
The reasons: the crib was assembled upside down, so the mattress floorboard wouldn’t stay in. Also, much of the crib’s hardware was damaged, which resulted in exposed screws, and the crib was so shoddily constructed it nearly collapsed during the inspection.
The expert’s conclusion: “I wouldn’t even put a pet in this.”
Holiday Inn
This particular Holiday Inn gave guests recalled cribs to put their babies in. The “Evenflo Happy Camper” was recalled nearly a decade ago because the crib’s hinges rotate too easily, causing it to collapse. The expert pointed out that children have died in the particular model crib that the Holiday Inn was offering to its customers.
Hampton Inn
Some good news at Hampton Inn. The expert received two portable cribs and commented that, “both of them look brand, spanking new, and both of them are in very good shape.”
As a result of the inspection Holiday Inn said it disposed of the recalled crib, ordered crib sheets and will conduct random inspections of the hotel. The Comfort Inn and Super 8 said it would destroy the damaged cribs and purchase replacements.
Still, safety experts say when it comes to protecting your children, you need to be vigilant. They suggest purchasing your own portable play pen (like a Pack-N-Play) and fitted sheets to take on the road with you. The investigation clearly shows that it’s not a good idea to rely on the hotels to provide you with a safe crib.