( CNN ) -- Michele Witte woke up about 1 a.m. on December 12 , 1997 , and went to change her son 's diaper . Then she rocked him and laid her 10-month-old back in his crib . Later that morning , she went into his bedroom to wake him and found his lifeless body . She immediately fell to her knees screaming . Witte 's son , Tyler , had gotten his neck stuck in a gap between the side rail and headboard created when a single screw had become loose . She called 911 , but her baby boy was cold , and she knew in her heart he was already dead . As her 2-year-old daughter came bounding into the bedroom , she grabbed her so she would n't see her brother . Witte , an English teacher in Bellmore , New York , said the coroner ruled the death an accident , but she and her family notified the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission . Thirteen years later , the commission voted Wednesday in favor of new proposed mandatory standards for cribs . The new rules , likely to go into effect next year after a final vote by the federal commission , would render many cribs in the country as not up to code , regardless of whether the crib style and model was ever considered unsafe , and essentially would ban the manufacture and sale of drop-side cribs . In addition to eliminating drop-side cribs , the new rules will mandate better mattress support , sturdier hardware and better quality wood for crib construction . Between November 2007 and April of this year , there were 36 deaths associated with crib structural problems , according to Commission Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum . Hazards in cribs include faulty hardware , dangerous gaps created from mattress support failures , and poor wood quality with crib slats that can be broken easily . The new standards aim to eliminate gaps where babies could become entrapped and suffocate , and to prevent babies from falling out of the crib . After Tyler 's death , Witte , now 36 , began to believe it was an isolated incident after a series of frustrating conversations and research . But in 2004 , Witte heard about another couple whose baby had died in a drop-side crib just miles from her Bellmore home . She was outraged that the accidents continued to happen and ramped up her advocacy efforts . `` The coroner said it would take 15 seconds for him to asphyxiate , '' she said , her voice quivering with the memory of Tyler 's death . `` My bedroom was close . I had the baby monitor on , but it 's the silent killer . If you ca n't breathe , you ca n't scream out . '' While Witte said she is happy about the latest developments , she is still worried about parents who have drop-side cribs . Since the accidents first started getting attention years ago , Witte said she 's heard of some parents who let their babies sleep in beds with them , which the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages . Others have used duct tape or lodged their cribs against a wall . `` What does that mean for cribs already out there ? '' she said . `` We need to have new safe cribs for people who ca n't afford it . '' Witte 's oldest daughter , now 14 , slept in the oak crib with steel hardware that kiled her baby brother . Since then , Witte has had two more children , a girl , now 6 , and a boy , 1 . Both have slept in a new stationary crib with no movable parts . In fact Witte said the current crib will only come apart now with a sledgehammer . `` The problem is of hardware . Whenever you have something you are moving , the hardware is bound to fail , '' she said . When Witte puts her son down to sleep tonight , she will face the same stress she has dealt with for years . `` The safest places for a baby is safe , securely built , stationary crib , '' she said , adding that she has a video monitor in her son 's room and gets up `` about 14 times a night checking on him . '' `` I 'm happy for the day when he 's out and in the bed , and we 're done with cribs . ''
Michele Witte 's 10-month - old baby died in a drop - side crib in 1997 . The baby 's neck became stuck between side rail , headboard when screw loosened . Witte has been working to get drop - side cribs banned . Consumer Product Safety Commission approved legislation that would ban drop - side cribs .