crib bumpers

cpwilliams9384 · June 2013

What is your opinion on crib bumpers? Are you using them? Are you not using them? I received them with my crib set and everything I read says don't use them due to safety issues. But I feel as though I lived when I was a baby and had crib bumpers. I am sort of stuck in my decision to use them or not.

Michelle N · June 2013

They're pretty dangerous, we won't be using them. The only thing I would consider using would be the breathable bumpers when baby is older to keep his arms and legs in the crib.

They pose a suffocation risk, and I wouldn't want to be a statistic. I don't think there's really much benefit to them, other than being pretty?

girlmama83 · June 2013

Seeing as how they are deemed as extremely unsafe, we will not be using them. If everything you read says they are a safety issue, I'm not really sure why you would still be questioning it.

WildRumpus · June 2013

Not using them, not even for decoration. I don't get why people keep using them or how they're even still being sold given that you'll find them on every "don't use" list for potential SIDS risks

ETA: The "well I lived" argument isn't a strong one. People also smoke, drink, do drugs, and don't wear their seat belts and live. Not a good enough argument

ELauren88 · June 2013

Since we did not purchase a bedding set, and they're deemed unsafe for use, we just skipped buying one.

SarahKate31 · June 2013

We didn't use a bumper with DS and won't with this LO. Well, we have a breathable bumper although honestly, DS can still somehow get his legs through the slats despite the bumper. My state (MD) just banned the sale of crib bumpers last week due to them being a safety hazard. To me, that's a pretty good reason not to use them.

henderson1026 · June 2013

I registered for and got them as a shower gift. LO won't be sleeping in her crib for a while, so they will be decoration and when she moves to the crib, they will come out.

matthewsdm · June 2013

We have the breathable ones, which we also used for DD1. However, LO will be sleeping in the bassinet in our room for a few months anyway, so it won't be an issue.

SarahinMD · June 2013

Didn't use bumpers with DD, no plans to for this one. First, they're generally unnecessary. At first, LO won't be able to move much. Then, worst case, LO...bumps...into bars. Probably not hard at all. Honestly, the only of my friends who had a problem with LO bumping on bars had a kid who did so while awake...and on purpose. I am way more concerned about LO, once able to move, rolling face first onto bumpers and not being able to breath than getting some injury from the crib. As for getting arms and legs out of crib...I don't understand why this would be a problem. Unless LO is in crib till quite old, bars on any new cribs are too far apart to get stuck for most kids (if they do, just help them...get unstuck). So yeah, I'm not at all an uptight parent (no padding on tables, only cabinet locks on a few cabinets, etc.) but there's no way I'd use bumpers.

MommyAmes2 · June 2013

We will use ours, until baby uses her crib, then it comes out. They are not safe, so why risk it?

MtB2013 · June 2013

I thought they stopped selling crib sets with bumpers. I bought I crib set no bumper on my set.

I heard they were stopping because research has proven them to be dangerous.

lkobriant · June 2013

Won't be using them. I'm actually pretty mad because 3 months after getting our set our state banned the sell of them so now the set comes with a super cute sheet that gives the same look as a bumper without the hazard!

magdalina.h · June 2013

they are dangerous so we don't use them.

"But I feel as though I lived when I was a baby and had crib bumpers".

Well they changed the regulations because of the babies who DIDN'T live through having a bumper. They are illegal in MD now.

nittanygirl28 · June 2013

I agree with pretty much everyone on herenot using them. We all know the risk and yet most sets out there still include the bumper which I think is ridiculous. This is mostly why I had someone make my beddingthere's no need for a bumper that poses as a hazard to my child.

Ktbug613 · June 2013

Since they are unsafe enough that places in the US are beginning to ban them altogether...no we won't its not even a question....

rissa06 · June 2013

We used the breathable ones for dd and DS.

magdalina.h · June 2013

Theusualmischief:
MtB2013:
I thought they stopped selling crib sets with bumpers. I bought I crib set no bumper on my set. I heard they were stopping because research has proven them to be dangerous.
I had a huge problem finding a set without a bumper. Ended up buying one with just because it was the one I liked. There weren't many options without one.

Same here. I ended up cutting it up (didn't want to throw away and someone use it as intended and something happening) and Lucas chewed on them when he was teething.

MtB2013 · June 2013

Theusualmischief:
MtB2013:
I thought they stopped selling crib sets with bumpers. I bought I crib set no bumper on my set.

I heard they were stopping because research has proven them to be dangerous.
I had a huge problem finding a set without a bumper.  Ended up buying one with just because it was the one I liked.  There weren't many options without one. 

Check sears they have a small selection at the store though I have t checked online.

kjalejos · June 2013

This came up in our baby class on Saturday. The only reason they were invented in the first place was b/c there was no regulation on the width between the rails on cribs. Apparently babies were falling through the rails and thus crib bumpers were needed.

That was changed many years ago and now the width can only be so far apart (like 2.25 inches or something).

In Illinois, they are illegal to use and will be illegal to sell in baby stores very soon.

Missuskeekers · June 2013

I won't be using them due to the risk of suffocation, strangulation and entrapment. The breathable ones are not considered safe either, because the baby is still at risk of being strangled by a bumper tie or becoming entrapped between the mattress and the bumper.

V&G101808 · June 2013

Nope - we're not using them. Our ped was also very against them which solidified my opinion.

Technically, the AAP doesn't even want you using the breathable ones, but I know LO's tend to get their limbs stuck between the slats of the crib. Once LO becomes mobile we will buy the breathable kind.

magdalina.h · June 2013

V&G101808:
Nope - we're not using them. Our ped was also very against them which solidified my opinion.

Technically, the AAP doesn't even want you using the breathable ones, but I know LO's tend to get their limbs stuck between the slats of the crib. Once LO becomes mobile we will buy the breathable kind.

We had to put a breathable one on the back of the crib. He would knock his binkie behind his crib and then freak out because he didn't have it. I couldn't keep moving his crib multiple times a night because of that stupid bink. lol

kateisgreat · June 2013

SarahinMD:Unless LO is in crib till quite old, bars on any new cribs are too far apart to get stuck for most kids You have that backwards. There are regulations now on how far apart the bars can be. There is a maximum distance allowed, which means bars are closer together now than they might be on older cribs, which could actually prevent limbs from getting stuck if they are close enough together to not get a limb in there to begin with. Regardless of that, DD still gets her legs stuck and she's almost 2. Babies can injure themselves (broken limbs, etc.), so we used breathable bumpers until they were pretty much pointless. I'm not an uptight parent either, but I wouldn't say bumpers are pointless. If anything they saved me a few late-night trips into the nursery to unstick limbs and soothe a scared baby back to sleep.

CaliforniaDream87 · June 2013

Nope.

ChelleLynS · June 2013

Our set has a bumper and I did register for it, but not to use as intended. Instead, I plan to use the bumper folded over the top rail of the crib when little one starts pulling herself up and teething. I have friends whose kids chewed the heck out of the top rails when they were old enough to stand and one of them converted the bumper into a protective rail cover and it was super cute.

amarissa85 · June 2013

We aren't using one.

MrsI · June 2013

They are banned from being sold in Chicago,very close to me. Do my feelings are in a huge city finds them dangerous enough to ban the sale of them then I won't be using them. We never used the with DD and never saw a need for them either. We won't be using them this time.

ETA: my feelings have always been if I used them and something happened I would never forgive myself. God forbid something happened to your LO would you regret having them or not having them?

tokenhoser · June 2013

Never used any, won't this time. A sleep sack keeps the legs out of the bars, and he never got his hands stuck.

nnikki10 · June 2013

Nope did not buy one and won't be using one. They are dangerous. The argument "when I was born we used them and I'm ok" is not a good one. There have been numerous medical advances since we were born.

cole2144 · June 2013

I am under the impression that Babies R Us no longer includes them in their bedding sets. My Cinderella set from there did not include them. I would not have used them anyway since I took a SIDS prevention class a while back and was told they are unsafe.

kanned0121 · June 2013

We have the breathable, mesh ones.

Texasmomma13 · June 2013

Any chance of causing harm or even death to my child is too great for me. I don't understand how this can even be negotiable if you are aware of the dangers involved.

kmr333 · June 2013

If you already have a cute bumper but don't want to use it for its intended purpose, there are lots of great ideas out there for repurposing them. Just google "repurpose crib bumper."

PrimRoseMama · June 2013

lindsey61811:
Seeing as how they are deemed as extremely unsafe, we will not be using them. If everything you read says they are a safety issue, I'm not really sure why you would still be questioning it.

Agree. No bumpers here. Not safe.

silvercamaro77 · June 2013

Our method with DD 16 months and our planned method with DS. No bumper while had limited head control because cant necessarily move head away if needs to.

Once has good head control add breathable bumper to prevent broken limbs since control of appendages wasn't as good. If they can move their head really well they're not going to suffocate themselves.

Once had good control of arms and legs remove breathable bumper so its not a climbing hazard.

The ties on the breathable bumper are barely long to tie so not long enough to strangle baby. Also, we cut ours off anyway because they were unnecessary because the sections where they would tie onto the crib were solid instead if slats.

If the breathable bumper is installed right and the mattress is the right size baby can't get trapped between the two anymore that baby could trap himself beside the mattress.

mamainseptember · June 2013

We used them with DS, who will be 3 in August, and will use them with DD. If you look at the statistics, less than one child has died because of the bumpers over the past 20 years. More kids die monthy because of car accidents and we still drive cars.

vcabbyw · June 2013

Nope. Actually I think the whole crib bedding sets are unnecessary anyway. I focused on getting enough water proof covers, sheets and having a cosleeper for the early months.

ScarletOflaherty · June 2013

mamainseptember:
We used them with DS, who will be 3 in August, and will use them with DD. If you look at the statistics, less than one child has died because of the bumpers over the past 20 years. More kids die monthy because of car accidents and we still drive cars.

The numbers I found was just over 1 child a year for the last 20 years, but in the grand scheme of 6 million births a year, I find that risk to be insanely remote. Statistically my child has a considerably bigger risk of being killed by a cow.

Also something like 15 babies a year die as a direct result of complications from circumcision, but you don't see a huge uproar and laws being passed about having your child circ'd, it's "personal choice".

Ultimately I'm the one who has to weigh the risks and make the choices for my kids, and I'm the one who has to live with any consequences thereof.

lyndz333 · June 2013

Most definitely not. Too much information out there says how dangerous they are plus it's just an added and unnecessary expense.

mamainseptember · June 2013

ScarletOflaherty:
mamainseptember:
We used them with DS, who will be 3 in August, and will use them with DD. If you look at the statistics, less than one child has died because of the bumpers over the past 20 years. More kids die monthy because of car accidents and we still drive cars. 
The numbers I found was just over 1 child a year for the last 20 years, but in the grand scheme of 6 million births a year, I find that risk to be insanely remote. Statistically my child has a considerably bigger risk of being killed by a cow. 
Also something like 15 babies a year die as a direct result of complications from circumcision, but  you don't see a huge uproar and laws being passed about having your child circ'd, it's "personal choice". 
Ultimately I'm the one who has to weigh the risks and make the choices for my kids, and I'm the one who has to live with any consequences thereof.  

I meant less than one child a year. Typo! You're right!

crib bumpers

Re: crib bumpers

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