Baby Gear Safety, Decoded from the Source
Crib Lab explains baby-gear safety by citing the actual standard behind it — CPSC regulations (16 CFR), NHTSA guidance, FMVSS 213, ASTM specifications, JPMA certification, and AAP published recommendations — not marketing copy. Every safety claim on this site links to its regulator or standards-body source. We do not give medical, sleep-training, or improvised safety advice, and we never recommend secondhand car seats or cribs.
"Meets safety standards" on a box tells you almost nothing without the standard's number and what it actually tests. A crib slat gap has a hard federal limit (2 3/8 inches). A car seat's LATCH lower anchors have a combined-weight cutoff (65 lb). FMVSS 213 is the crash-test standard every car seat must pass — but it doesn't tell you when to switch from rear-facing. Start with The Baby Gear Safety Numbers, our full cited reference table, or pick a gear category below.
Car Seats
Rear-facing/forward-facing/booster transitions, the 65 lb LATCH limit, expiration, and what FMVSS 213 actually certifies.
Cribs & Sleep
Slat spacing, the two-finger mattress-gap rule, the drop-side ban, and AAP safe-sleep basics.
Strollers
ASTM F833, harness expectations, and what to check before you buy.
Carriers
Hip-healthy positioning per the International Hip Dysplasia Institute.
Baby Monitors
The 3-foot cord rule and what to look for in placement.
Always follow your product's manual and current CPSC/NHTSA guidance — this site summarizes published standards and is not a substitute for them.
The claims worth decoding first
Guides
How we work
We are a research-based reference site: every safety claim is web-verified against the regulator's or standards body's own published material (CPSC.gov, NHTSA.gov, the Federal Register, ASTM, AAP/HealthyChildren.org, and the International Hip Dysplasia Institute) before it's published, with a source link on the page. If a fact cannot be verified against a primary source, we leave it out entirely. We do not test products ourselves, we never publish prices, and we never recommend secondhand car seats or cribs because of unverifiable crash history and expiration risk. Read our full methodology →