Thoughts on crib bumpers

starsaligned13

Hi my 8 month old is rolling all around his crib, exploring his bed and practicing being on all fours which is great, but he keeps smashing his head. I lay him down long ways, but he always turns the other way and just fits head to toe. My concern is when he’s kicking whichever end his feet are at he ends up smashing his head into the crib.
should I try bumpers or is this just a phase and it’ll be fine? He’s only cried from hitting his head once out of like 20 times. 

morenitamommy

I’m having the same concern. I want get bumper as well. I’m not really much concern for SIDS as my baby is now very mobile and alert, but it’s still not recommended to have crib bumpers until baby is over 1 year of age. 

daffodils49950

I'm having the same thing with my 8-month-old. Except he screams when he hits his head on the crib. I know we're not supposed to use bumpers, but I'm so tempted. What did you end up doing or did it get better? I'm also afraid he'll pull up and try to stand on them -- try to stand on bumpers if we got them. He's very mobile.

daffodils49950

My 8-month-old is pulling up, sitting, crawling all over the crib, and hitting his head on the crib. I had him in a doc-a-tot and swaddled until he busted out too many times. I was trying to confine him and he wanted to move. But now, he's moving and screaming. I think I also need to do sleep training and I'm terrified of it. I'm feeding him to sleep most nights and I think it just makes him wake back up and move around more. Here's the blog post that helped me understand what's going on:

https://sleepingwellconsulting.com/baby-sitting-up-sleeping-how-to-help-your-child-through-this-milestone/

complexity

I considered using bumper pads when my granddaughter first got her foot caught in between the slats. I did some reading to see if there was an age in which bumper pads were safe or if there was a safe kind of bumper pad, but everything I found said no, don’t use them.

In the process of reading on the subject, I found comments from parents that said babies go through a stage in which they learn the boundaries of their crib and stop hitting their heads on the slats and that they are able to get their arms/legs out from between the slats. So that’s what I’m doing.

So far, she’s doing okay. I put her in the crib so her head is further away from the slats and closer to one side since she usually turns over in one direction. There have been a couple of times in which she’s worked herself so that he head is in a corner. If she’s crying, I go in and reposition her.

I have a little saying that I tell myself when things like this happen: “All children will learn how to manage this by the time they’re in college.” 😂 It reminds me that whatever is happening, it’s temporary. I trust that she is capable of learning to avoid the slats of her crib in time. I just have to be patient and supportive while she’s learning.