CHICAGO — Federal regulators recalled about 1 million cribs yesterday because the drop rail on some of the nation's best-selling models can detach from the crib's frame, creating a dangerous gap that has led to the deaths of at least three children.

After inquiries from the Chicago Tribune for an investigation of Simplicity cribs, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of cribs sold under both the Simplicity and Graco name.

Covering all cribs made by Simplicity between 1998 and May 2007, it is the largest recall of full-size cribs since the safety commission was created in the 1970s.

"We want parents to know," CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said. "We do not want your child in that crib tonight."

The Tribune's reporting had found numerous complaints about the design of a popular Simplicity crib, the Aspen 3 in 1, documenting the failure of the federal watchdog agency to fully investigate the deadly failure of such a crib in 2005. Over the past week, the Tribune shared its findings with Simplicity and the safety commission, seeking comment.

The response was the massive recall. It includes the Aspen 3 in 1 — Simplicity's most popular crib during the time the company sold 600,000 of them from 2002 to 2005.

Though all the cribs covered by the recall were made in China, the CPSC said it was Simplicity's flawed design and hardware that was responsible for the problem, which the agency said led to seven other infant entrapments and 55 other complaints of drop-rail problems.

The design flaw allowed caregivers to unintentionally install the drop rail upside down, weakening the hardware and causing the rail to separate from the frame. The three infants who died slipped through the resulting gap, became entrapped and asphyxiated.

NO REPLACEMENT CRIB

Simplicity President Ken Waldman said the company redesigned its crib hardware two years ago as a result of consumer complaints. But he would not say why the recall did not occur earlier. "We analyzed the situation, and we needed to make a decision," he said in an interview. "This is the thing to do, and that's why we decided to do it now."

The company is not offering consumers a replacement crib. Those who contact Simplicity can obtain a repair kit with the new hardware intended to keep the rail from separating. Asked about the decision to replace hardware instead of the cribs in their entirety, Waldman said: "Working with the CPSC, we found the best remedy was to send new, updated hardware."

But a leading child-product safety advocate criticized the decision to leave parents responsible for making the fix themselves.

"Given Simplicity's track record of four crib recalls in a little (over) two years, parents may want to take other measures such as discontinuing the use of the crib," said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids In Danger, which was created after a Chicago child died in a portable crib that collapsed and strangled him. "We would urge Simplicity to reimburse any parents who would feel safer returning the crib."

Waldman said consumers could expect to receive the replacement kit "within four weeks."

Cowles noted that such a recall leaves parents with a difficult decision. "If their crib is one of the unsafe ones, they have a dilemma of where to put their baby to sleep tonight," she said. "Sleeping on other surfaces such as adult beds or sofas or chairs is too risky. We would suggest if they have a portable crib or play yard they use when traveling, that might be the best solution until they can get their crib repaired or replaced."

FIRST CHILD DIED IN '05

The CPSC said it is aware of two deaths in Simplicity-manufactured cribs with the older style hardware where the drop rail was installed upside down. A Tribune investigation determined the identity of those two babies: Liam Johns, a 9-month-old from Citrus Heights, Calif., died in April 2005. Edward Millwood, of Woodstock, Ga., was 6 months old when he died in November 2006. Neither the agency nor the company would disclose the name of the third child who died when the drop rail separated from the crib.

More than two years after Liam's death, following the Tribune's inquiries, the CPSC sent an investigator earlier this week to finally retrieve the crib where he died and examine its flaws. Three days later, the agency announced the recall.

The Johns family settled a lawsuit with Simplicity for an undisclosed sum. Charles Kelly, the San Francisco attorney who represented the family in the suit, said that while "we are pleased with the recall, it is inexcusable that it took over two years and three deaths before CPSC acknowledged the risk posed by the drop side.

"Congress must give CPSC the necessary funding so that it can move faster to protect our nation's children."