Simmons drop side comes off - what am I doing wrong?

[babymama]

My Simmons crib drop side requires me to lift slightly then push in (toward crib mattress) to get it to drop. Problem is that when I lift, the side that's in my hand gets pulled off the sliding hinge. Anyone experience this? Have any solutions? We bought the floor model, so it came already assembled...but could there be something wrong with the assembly? this drop side has always been problematic.

I'm afraid that one of these days we won't notice that one hinge is off, and my son will push the whole side off or fall out. It's a dangerous situation.

Would like to fix our crib and not have to buy a new one.

Thanks,
Lydia (babymama)

[ellies mom]

Could you post a few pictures of the crib? It would help to see the bottom of the drop side where it connects to the crib sides. I'm guessing there is definately something wrong with the assembly. I'd consider contacting the store.

[justlearning]

We started having this exact same problem with our Simmons crib after we moved and the moving guys reassembled the crib. We called the Simmons factory (do a google search to find their website and phone number) and talked with someone in the parts department.

Here's what she told my husband (please call them yourself if my instructions aren't clear--I'd hate to mislead you): Lower the rail, then look at the plastic brackets/hinges where the rail fits into at the top of the crib (i.e., the part that your rail is breaking loose from whenever you lower the rail). I can't remember exactly the direction they need to go and DS is asleep in his crib right now, but essentially just turn those upside down from the way you have them right now. When DH did this, he found it to be very difficult to actually get the crib drop rail to go back in but was able to do so with help. Since DH made this adjustment, we have not had any more problems with the drop rail coming loose when being lowered.

The Simmons lady said that this is explained in the assembly directions as well (which we have since lost). Hopefully, this will solve your problem--I'm guessing that it will. The whole time that we used the crib prior to moving (DH had assembled the crib then carefully following the instructions), we never had any problems. It was just after the moving guys incorrectly put it back together that those problems began. It sounds like the workers at the store where you bought the crib should learn to follow the assembly instructions more carefully!

Hope this helps!

[babymama]

Thank you so much to both of you for responding. I'm happy to report that this worked. I knew someone here would come through for me!!!

I'll post a few details here, so hopefully others can learn from my experience. Specifically, the problem was that the hinge on the drop side was upside down. The hinge on the drop side and the hinge on the fixed sides (short sides of the rectangle) both have one rounded edge and one flat or straight edge - like an upside down letter U. When we flipped the hinge on the drop side so that the round side was right side up, the hinge stayed in place and didn't pop off the hinge anymore. Also, all four pieces of the hinges should be placed with the rounded edges right side up, the flat edge should be closest to the crib mattress.

A tip from DH...to avoid difficulty with placing the hinges back together, you can place the long skinny sliding hinge on the little grabber hinger BEFORE screwing the long skinny hinge back to the crib. Not sure if that makes sense.

Thanks so much!

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png