STM: To bumper or not to bumper?

marionravenwood · September 2012

So I've read a lot of conflicting information about whether bumpers are safe or pose a suffocation hazard. I love the look of them and I just bought a wrought iron crib. I think it would be pretty painful if baby ker-whacked his/her head on the iron bars.

Any STM have experience with them? Are they worth it/not worth it? If you didn't use them did your LO get injured by the crib?

On a side note I ate an entire squeezy bottle of Hershey syrup straight out of the contain in about 3 hours. Hope you are all having equally "sweet" Labor Days : )

perplexed59 · September 2012

We never used them. My daughter learned not to stick her arms or legs out quickly. To me it isn't worth the risk and I'm cheap so I didn't want to spend money on them.

rkrichey · September 2012

I'll probably get flamed for saying this but we used a bumper. But we didn't put DS in the crib until he was about 5-6 months old and already able to crawl. And then at around 9 months we had to take the bumper out b/c he was using it as a step. So it was cute but not really functional. I probably wouldn't have used the bumper if I had put him in there as a newborn. I did feel a little bit guilty about having it in there but I also felt like he had really good control of his body and would be able to roll away from it if he wanted/needed to. We never had any issues with it.

kelly321 · September 2012

What sources have you read saying they're safe? All recommendations I have read have said not to use them. At the beginning, your baby isn't going to be mobile enough to hit his/her head, so you don't have to worry about that.

We started using breathable bumpers when DD started tossing her pacifiers out of the crib. We have a wooden crib, but she has never hurt herself on the crib. Honestly, I wouldn't want to use regular ones even if they do look nice. The chances of something happening are small, but if it did, I wouldn't want to feel the guilt of having possibly caused my child harm because I wanted the crib to look good.

pitterpatter129 · September 2012

We used them for awhile with DS, but he only slept in his crib for naps and only when he was over 6 months old (so he was crawling by then.) They aren't safe though, and I would use none or breathable bumpers. Maybe you want to rethink an iron crib...never seen one. My kid has always liked to sleep right on the edge of things, snuggled up to his crib bars, snuggled up to the wall next to his bed...

KMAXON · September 2012

I use them with DD. I used breathable bumpers for several months. Then when she was about 7 months and mobile she started banging her head into the crib and screaming at naptime, so I used them and never had a problem. I plan on doing the same thing with LO. It works for us, if you don't trust them, don't use them.

jas9210 · September 2012

We put them in when DS was probably around 4 months. He moves around a lot during the night and is always thumping his head against the rails. He has always had good head control and I was never really worried about him suffocating against them. I will probably do the same with this LO when he/she is able to move around and shows good head control.

perplexed59 · September 2012

Usually the risk with bumpers is associated with SIDS not that your baby will suffocate by having their head buried in them. They can decrease the air flow around the baby which has been shown to occur with babies who have died of SIDS. There isn't an exact cause known for SIDS and if suffocation was to occur it wouldn't be labelled as SIDS. Even if your child has good head control and can move around doesn't make the risk any lower because they are actually warning about air flow. My friend's child died at 5 months from SIDS and he was able to move around, and keep his head out of the bumpers.

ericalee27 · September 2012

We never used them with DS and won't with #2 either.

minda31807 · September 2012

Used a bumper with both of my boys after they started rolling around in their sleep, took it out when they started to use it as a step. More than likely use one with this LO as well.

marionravenwood · September 2012

I did not realize the risk was associated with airflow and not the actual bumper covering LO's face. This makes a lot more sense to me now. Thanks ladies. I'll take my chances bumper less. Sounds like there's much more risk associated with bumpers than head thunks from the bars.

tulipblossom · September 2012

We used a bumper with DD. It was not the breathable kind but it was still very thin. It is maybe a little thicker than the quilt that matches her crib bedding so her using it as a step was never an issue. We also long used it on 3 sides of her crib. along the back and the top and bottom.

Until last month her cib was always in our room and I liked being able to see into her crib from our bed.

101Mims · September 2012

DC2London:
We used breathable bumpers. They stopped him from being able to get his legs stuck in the slats, but I knew they weren't a suffocation hazard. They also collapse when stepped on, so they don't give LO anything to climb on to get out.
We used the crib for naps only, but that worked great for us.

This.

We had DS in his crib, right next to my side of the bed, from the first day back from hospital. For the first 4 or 5 mths or so we didn?t use the breathable bumpers as he didnt move that much, but when we started to try and sit up and then fall against the bars we put the bumpers on.

He is still in the crib but in his own room now and we are still using the breathable bumpers. Have had no problems with them and will be doing the same thing with this LO.

We also have a celing fan in all bedrooms to keep the air circulating and in the summer we have added a stand fan too. I can?t stand a stuffy warm bedroom and wont have my babies in one either.

mom2b22013 · September 2012

I used it when DS but he barely slept in his crib. I am not going to be using it this time around.

IncogNeato · September 2012

The experts say no for safety SIDS so no. SIDS terrifies me. DD has never bumped her head or got anything stuck and she's almost 2.

chulita425 · September 2012

DS used them with no problems. He started sleeping in his crib around 4 months but I was never concerned because he had good head control and he hated anything near his face. If you don't feel comfortable don't use them.

Snowflake7867 · September 2012

I'm jealous you got an iron crib, I would LOVE one, I think they are so lovely : Which one did you get?

DC2London, here is an example from Pottery Barn Kids: https://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/brattdecorvenetianironcrib/?pkey=bcribs

mrsdugger · September 2012

I know they're your babies and you can do what you want, but I have to be opinionated on this topic. They are not safe. Breathable bumpers are not necessarily safe either. I believe the AAP had one bumper that they said was safe ( I heard this while pregnant with dd) it was breathable and it was red and ugly from what I understaand. Bumpers pose risk of suffocation (baby presses their face against them), strangulation (ties come loose and baby gets them wrapped around their neck, chocking (ties come off or loose and baby gets a hold of them), sids ( airflow), and as kids get older fall hazards and injury hazards. A study done in 2007 that was published in the journal of pediatrics found 27 deaths directly related to the use of bumpers and padded bassinets. It just isn't worth it for a pretty crib. Your baby will not die if they get their arm stuck ( and they figure out pretty much immediately how not to do that) they could die from a bumper. Will they probably be fine...of course...do you want to be the mom who regrets such a silly thing for the rest of your life if they do become one of the statistics? I wouldn't think so.

lylahlove · September 2012

We didn't put Liam in his crib until after 6 months and we didn't use bumpers. But around 9 months, he started rolling everywhere and waking himself up so we put the bumpers in from his bedding set and they did the trick.

JuliaBug · September 2012

DS kept sleeping with his head against thw rails so I bought breathable bumpers. I just took the off a few months ago and I am constantly finding him sleeping with legs out of the crib.

marionravenwood · September 2012

I got his crib on sale this weekend. I went with the iron because I'm using an heirloom dresser for the changing table and couldn't quite match the wood color.

https://www.rhbabyandchild.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=rhbc_prod225141&cm_ps=modal_add_to_cart-_-none-_-other_items_you_may_like&categoryId=rhbc_cat206017

KansasFarmMomma · September 2012

We never used bumpers. We've never had any issues with stuck limbs or whacked heads. It just seemed like one extra thing to buy that we may or may not need. We are perfectly content with no bumpers lol

ancp27 · September 2012

I'm a FTM but I wanted to say that I'm so jealous you're getting an iron crib! Had this LO been a girl we would've gotten one. I think they're so beautiful!

mjr12 · September 2012

perplexed59:
We never used them. My daughter learned not to stick her arms or legs out quickly. To me it isn't worth the risk and I'm cheap so I didn't want to spend money on them.

This. Exactly. I didn't use any sort of bumper, and DS quickly learned not to stick his arms and legs out.

We didn't have baby start sleeping in his crib until about 6 months. He's still in the crib (I haven't converted it into a toddler bed yet) and he hasn't tried to climb out.

Snowflake7867 · September 2012

marionravenwood:
I got his crib on sale this weekend. I went with the iron because I'm using an heirloom dresser for the changing table and couldn't quite match the wood color.
https://www.rhbabyandchild.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=rhbc_prod225141&cm_ps=modal_add_to_cart-_-none-_-other_items_you_may_like&categoryId=rhbc_cat206017

Mmm, gorgeous!

MouseInLux · September 2012

We've never used bumpers, DD's always been fine, she has stuck her arms and legs out but they've never gotten hurt!

I much prefer not having bumpers and suffocation to be concerned with.

bumpuser5925118 · September 2012

I'm a FTM but I don't think I will be using them. I think that if something were to happen I would never forgive myself, so it isn't worth it to me.

hsweetman · September 2012

at first we didn`t use any she I could look over and she her in the crib once she started to move we put her breathable bumpers in so her arms and legs didn`t get caught.