Graco crib recall: 217,000 units

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- About 217,000 Graco cribs have been recalled, due to a malfunction that can entrap, suffocate or strangle infants and toddlers, federal safety officials announced Thursday.

The recall includes so-called "drop side" wood cribs made by manufacturer LaJobi and branded with the Graco logo.

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217,000 drop side cribs that could suffocate or strangle infants are being recalled.

Faulty hardware can cause the drop side to detach from the crib, creating a gap "in which infants and toddlers can become wedged or entrapped, posing a risk of suffocation and strangulation," the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a press release.

Consumers should immediately stop using the cribs and contact LaJobi's recall hotline at (888) 842-2215 to receive a free hardware retrofit kit, the company said.

"We have moved swiftly and decisively, in full cooperation with the CPSC, to take this precautionary action and recall these cribs and deliver to owners a workable, easy and permanent solution," LaJobi said in a statement.

The CPSC and LaJobi received 99 complaints about the faulty drop side. Children were trapped in two cases and later freed by their caregivers. There were six reports of children falling out of the crib due to the malfunction.

While LaJobi, as the manufacturer, is primarily handling the recall, it marks the third major recall tied to the Graco name this year. Atlanta-based Graco Children's Products, a unit of Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NWL, Fortune 500), recalled 1.5 million strollers in January and 1.2 million highchairs in March.

The cribs were sold, starting in February 2007 at retailers throughout the country for $140 to $200.