Crib from Kmart Only Safe for Infants Without Teeth!

I was wondering if you ever found anything out about this crib. I
bought this in 2007 along with the rest of the set. For years I've
noticed a smell in the room where I keep the furniture. At first I
thought it was because the furniture was brand new, but it never went
away. Someone just recently asked if I knew if it contained
formadehyde and that may be the smell. This concerns me because my
second child is now sleeping in this crib, and unlike the first, is
biting the wood all over! Did Kmart ever respond to the BBB about your
complaint or give you any information concerning the manufacturer and
materials used?

My son also chewed on the side of his crib bought from k-mart. They
need to do something about this before a baby chokes on a piece of
wood or gets poisoned from the stain. His bed is the cherry one from
k-mart and we had the same problem. The bed looked horrible after just
one night of sleeping in it. They should put teething guards on the
sides also if it is the height that they can chew it.

I have different feelings about this issue, which is why I haven't
really posted much about this letter.

However, I do have a suggestion for the OP. Mindy, I would recommend
creating an account at Kmart online and writing a review of this crib.
The reason why I suggest this is that when I was searching for baby
furniture, the biggest tool I used was user feedback. The main reason
why I purchased the crib I did was because the user reviews were so
favorable.

I did a search for your particular crib online and didn't find any
feedback on Kmart's website (or any other website). I think it's
important to let other people know of your experience.

Good luck.

"I was seven months pregnant and it was my birthday. My future
mother-in-law purchased a crib for me from Kmart and gave it to me as
a birthday gift."

Okay, maybe the MIL meant well, but if I were the OP, I'd be less than
thrilled at getting a baby item as a birthday gift.

Am I the only one who feels this way?

(Of course, I have neither a MIL (but I used to) nor a baby. But
still. It's your BIRTHDAY and you deserve a gift for YOU to use,
right?)

This letter makes me think of my baby brother (who is now 22!!).

My parents had bought a beautifl oak crib (real solid wood!) for me
before I was born. I slept in it, as did the older of my two little
brothers. Then, #3 came along, and as soon as he could stand, he
started gnawing on the headboard of that crib like a little beaver. My
mother tried EVERYTHING to stop him, including hot sauce and that
bitter fingernail polish stuff for nail biters. Still, every morning
she would pull splinters out of his mouth. He eventually chewed a hole
a couple inches deep in that crib, until my mother gave up and moved
him to a bed.

That being said, he's no worse for the wear, although he was the only
one who needed braces, so maybe that had something to do with it.

As the mother of three little boys, let me say that your son is going
to ingest a LOT of things he's not supposed to. Most of them you won't
even know about.

>> I called the number she gave me, but it was after hours so I went
to the website, which was www.ameriwood.com, and sent an email. I
received a response stating that their company does not make baby
furniture.

They lied to you. The website you cite shows baby furniture.
http://www.ameriwood.com/index.php?cat=LV&fuseaction=products.details&
id=522&encodeKeyURL=| This may not be your crib, however.

You have a serious situation. If the crib was marked with the KMart
name, they should at least be able to put in you in touch with their
manufacturer. I wouldn't expect someone in the store or a customer
support hotline to know the answer, but they should have some way of
putting you in touch with their product department.

>> At this point, there is little Kmart can do to please me. A refund
and a formal apology letter would be a decent start.

What you need is to know that your child didn't eat poison! They owe
you that.

It's funny. A lot of people are saying "every kid" chews on the crib.
My son DIDN'T. But he had binkies (Binks! as he calls them) with
him. That and a blanket with a rubber chewing part on it.

There is NOTHING out there that is 100% safe for a baby/toddler.

While I feel bad, I think you may have overreacted a bit. If your son
hasn't had any problems yet from this, I don't think he ever will.
Kids will put EVERYTHING in their mouths. I have fished out dimes,
plastic, ROCKS (from the beach), shells, sand, and I could go on and
on.

It is NOT Kmart's fault your son chewed the crib. I don't think the
BBB will see anything wrong with the way Kamrt acted. You were
outside the Return window.

Sorry, but that is just the way I feel about it.

Although you get what you pay for, this is upsetting when young
children are involved.You might want to visit the Material Safety Data
Sheet website[M.S.D.S.] for more information on the construction and
products used in the production of this item. I hope this helps in
your situation.

I agree it is appalling that the crib is made of material that can be
chipped by 2 little baby teeth. My friend's son chewed through a whole
Pottery Barn crib/bed combo, so it is unfortunately possible
regardless of where you purchase your baby furniture. I think it is
worth bringing to the retailer's attention so they can issue a recall
or take other appropriate action like redesigning the cribs.

However, your letter concludes on a sort of confusing note. You say
you don't believe you would be satisfied with a refund, then you
repeat there is little they could do to please you, yet you request a
refund at the end. You received the crib as a gift, so asking for a
refund seems a little greedy in my opinion, because you didn't
actually buy the crib. But it would be a nice thing for K-Mart to do
as a gesture of good will even though you are not entitled to a refund
under their policy.

If the doctor advised your child is fine after the tests, it seems
like you are spinning your wheels trying to find out what the crib is
made of. Why not just be grateful that your child is ok? K-Mart may be
reluctant to release that information to you or issue an apology due
to litigation concerns. Or as someone mentioned below, K-Mart simply
may not be able to trace exactly which manufacturer produced the item
if they use multiple suppliers. You mentioned that your other 2
children chewed their cribs, and if they turned out ok, this situation
hopefully will not be any different. Good luck.

I actually think you have a perfectly valid complaint. . . I hope you
get some resolution. I see no reason why a crib should be
manufactured so shoddily that a baby couldn't chew on it for a few
minutes--that's just what's going to happen to a crib!

I wish I had some advice for you. It sounds like you've handled this
well so far; I would think you'd have answers by now!

They should have just refunded the dang crib. (yes, I know all about
return policies and how they didn't have to because it was beyond 90
days) The product should be able to be used as intended, regardless
of store policy. The people who have taken advantage of generous
refund policies over the years are likely the people that you can
thank for your difficulty here. Still, cost of doing business and all
that....had they just made this situation right (as much as they
could) this family would probably have continued to shop there - I'm
guessing not anymore.

On a different topic - did you know that formaldehyde is also used in
the making of m any textile products? Sheets, comforters, clothing
etc. Heed those labels that tell you to wash before using.

Lastly, how important is it really that she made a math error? Geez,
if everyone on here pointed out every single error we all make, how
lame would this site become?

Okay, I've had a typo pointed out. It has come to my attention that,
though I am an intelligent human being, I accidentally stated that
"...this crib is "64% wood, 2% medium density fiberboard MDF." That
only accounts for 66% of the materials used and absolutely no one will
tell me what that other 24% is." The "24%" is incorrect, obviously.
Yes, I am capable of doing simple math, I really am. However, being
as the number "2" resides right next to the number "3" on my keyboard,
I must have accidentally hit "2" when I meant "3" and this somehow
completely invalidates my entire complaint or make me an idiot of some
sort.

If you felt this way before putting your baby in the crib, you should
have insisted on solid wood. A crib bought at KMart is highly
unlikely to be of that quality, so you should have been very concerned
about what might happen if the child began knawing on the rails.

By the way, you may want to look around the house and think about what
else your son may get his teeth into. 66 + 24 = 90%

My goodness, i lose my mind when one of my cats eats something
inappropriate. I have no clue how I could keep myself together if
that happened to a child.

I find Kmart's lack of assistance here appalling!

I know not everybody can afford to buy the high-quality item every
time, but damn, a retailer oriented to the lowest income consumers
still has an obligation to sell things that are safe, especially when
they are for babies/kids.

That, plus I know better than to come between a mom and her baby on
just about *anything.* ;) (You guys are fierce!)

The following is a link that you will find interesting. It's to a
letter that was written here on Planet Feedback in 2006. The crib
line was different, but the situation was the same. An infant was
able to bite a piece out of the side of the crib and conveniently, no
manufacturing information was available, even after a call to Kmart.
I find this OP's complaint COMPLETELY valid and can't imagine this
happening to my child. It's one thing if you let your child
constantly gnaw on the crib, it's another when they are left alone for
a few minutes and are able to bite a chunk out of it.
http://www.planetfeedback.com/kmart/product+quality
/dangerous+imported+crib+from+kmart/294015

Kmart has a responsibility to know who the manufacturer is for all of
their products. And, once they were notified of the issue, they
should have done everything in their power to find the manufacturer
for the customer.

If I were the OP, I would be going to the BBB with this information.
I would also be contacting my Attorney General.

Sometimes it is difficult to know who manufactured what with cheap
items (sorry, but ANY furniture you buy outside of a solid wood store
or a well known furniture store, especially big box stores is cheap).
Sometimes two or three (or more) manufactures might make a piece of
furniture and they all be boxed the same, or the manufacture might
change over time. Or even a company might hire another company to
make the furniture and then resell it to the reseller.

It usually is not as simple as it looks.

Besides, if you buy cheap furniture, you get cheap furniture. Unless
you buy REAL hard/solid wood it is cheap and will break easily (with a
few exceptions).

There should have been a long plastic piece that would have fit on
both rails. This is for babies to chew on. They all do it. Did you
install this piece?