Federal law requires that toddler beds comply with the toddler beds standard and with the requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).
Manufacturers and importers of toddler beds must certify in a Children's Product Certificate that the toddler beds comply with the standard and the additional requirements after the toddler beds have been tested for compliance at a CPSC-accepted, third party laboratory. These requirements are reviewed in greater detail at www.cpsc.gov/BusinessEducation.
A toddler bed is any bed sized to accommodate a full-size crib mattress having minimum dimensions of 51 5⁄8 in. (1310 mm) in length and 27 1⁄4 in. (690 mm) in width and is intended to provide free access and egress to a child not less than 15 months of age and who weighs no more than 50 pounds (27.7 kg).
The standard attempts to minimize: entrapment in bed end structures, entrapment between the guardrail and side rail, and entrapment in the mattress support system. Entrapment of a child’s head or neck can result in asphyxiation. The standard also addresses corner post extensions, which may catch pacifier cords, ribbons, necklaces, or clothing that a child may be wearing and that may be caught on a projection.
The standard is published in the Code of Federal Regulations at 16 CFR Part 1217. The standard incorporates by reference ASTM F1821-19e1, which contains the specific requirements and descriptions of the required tests for toddler beds. ASTM F1821-19e1, the Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toddler Beds, can be purchased from ASTM International.
The standard has stringent requirements for the overall integrity and operation of the toddler beds, such as mattress support, guardrails and side-rails entrapments, spindles/slats entrapment, partially bounded openings, and warnings and instructions.
Toddler beds are subject to surface coating requirements, lead and phthalate content limits, third party testing and certification, registration cards, and tracking label requirements. These requirements are discussed below and at www.cpsc.gov/BusinessEducation:
- Surface Coating Limit: Toddler beds must not be painted with paint that contains more than 90 ppm (0.009 percent) lead.
- Lead Content Limit: Toddler beds must not contain greater than 100 ppm (0.01 percent) of total lead content in any accessible component part.
- Phthalate Content Limits:
- Plasticized components of toddler beds must not contain more than 0.1 percent of the following eight specified phthalates: di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP), and dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP).
- Testing and Certification: Toddler beds, like all products that are designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger, must be tested by an accredited third party laboratory accepted by the CPSC for compliance with the toddler beds standard and all other applicable children's product safety rules, including the lead paint, lead content, and phthalate content limits. Based on that testing, a domestic manufacturer (or importer) of toddler beds must issue a Children's Product Certificate specifying each applicable rule and indicating that the product complies with those rules.
- Product and Outer Package Labeling Requirements: Durable infant or toddler products, such as toddler beds, must be permanently marked with specific labeling information, including tracking labels, on the product and on the packaging. In addition, durable infant or toddler products are required to have additional product markings and a product registration card attached to the product. This chart summarizes the specific labeling and registration requirements that durable infant and toddler products must meet.