Baby getting stuck in crib slats

chloeval · October 2013

Help I put my lo in crib for the first time to sleep last night and we were up all night because he was getting stuck in crib slats !! He was banging the heck out of his head and he actually got his leg stuck while he was wearing a skeep sack. His arm wound also get stuck ! The don't recommend bumpers these days and I'm not sure what to do?!

chloeval · October 2013

But the mesh bumpers are also not recommended

botanicalbliss · October 2013

Swaddle or get a mesh bumper.

This.

ascott654 · October 2013

we use mesh bumpers

Shoecrazysarah · October 2013

Laurendag said:
Well if you want to have to rush your child to the emergency room with a broken leg or ankle by all means

From a physiological stand point, it is highly unlikely that an infant would have the strength to break their bones by becoming "trapped" in crib slates. On the converse, it is more likely that baby could be injued by the use of bumpers in a variety of ways. I say follow the recommendations of the AAP and go without, I feel confident that recommendation is not made lightly.

taraleanne · October 2013

Lots of people don't follow the "standards" and their babies are JUST Fine!! I know a ton of people who use crib bumpers and I use a mesh one. If it's used properly I feel it's fine. You need to do what makes you feel comfortable on all accounts.

chloeval · October 2013

Thanks everyone

=Lee=B · October 2013

It`s his first night in the crib, babies learn quickly and he will figure out how to either keep himself in the crib so his limbs don`t get stuck, or he will learn how to get his limbs out of the bars should they end up there.

As another poster said it is really not possible for a baby to break their limbs from being stuck between crib bars. That is the mentality of a future bubble child`s parents.

Give it a few nights and baby will likely figure it out. You`ll lose many more nights sleep. Soon will be the I`ve rolled to my tummy`, come roll be back sleepless nights, then will come the I`m standing and need help to get back down sleepless nights. This too shall pass...

Shoecrazysarah · October 2013

Laurendag said:
@shoecrazysarah I'm really confused as to why you think physiology has anything at all to do with physical injuries.

Human physiology is the science of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of humans, their organs, and the cells of which they are composed, including tendons and bones.

Shoecrazysarah · October 2013

Laurendag said:

Shoecrazysarah said:

Laurendag said:
@shoecrazysarah I'm really confused as to why you think physiology has anything at all to do with physical injuries.

Human physiology is the science of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of humans, their organs, and the cells of which they are composed, including tendons and bones.

Mhm. So when your sick or injured you see a psychologist? No, when you get sick or injured you see a doctor. Because doctors are trained to treat you. Doctors go through years of schooling to treat you.
So I would trust a doctor about injuries over a psychologist. Psychologist really don't know a whole lot about what is actually possible for the human body to do.

PhD =/= MD
Psychologist =/= Medical Doctor.

Physiology and Psychology are not the same discipline. Either you did not read my post clearly before responding (which is rude), or your grasp on the English language is tenuous at best (which is laughable).

=Lee=B · October 2013

Laurendag said:

@=Lee=B I find it amusing that you don't think it's possible. I find it insulting that because I know something from witnessing it first hand several times while doing clinicals in a children's hospital I am putting my child in a bubble. Just because it isn't something widely publicized does NOT mean it isn't possible. Here is the link to a study done on injuries related to cribs (and other infant gear) by a well known medical journal. https://m.pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/3/479.full And since I'm sure you aren't going to read through it here is the section about becoming wedged in a crib and fractures. Which FWIW are no different from breaks. "When children were caught or wedged in a crib, lower-extremity injuries (relative risk: 8.31 [95% CI: 6.80–10.16]) and upper-extremity injuries (relative risk: 2.84 [95% CI: 2.18–3.69]) were more likely to occur relative to other injury mechanisms. Children 12 months of age or older were 2.47 times (95% CI: 1.97–3.09) more likely to be treated for fractures than children younger than 12 months old. For all ages, injuries to the face were 9.23 times (95% CI: 7.32–11.64) more likely to be a laceration than another type of injury, and upper-extremity injuries were 7.46 times (95% CI: 6.23–8.95) more likely to be a fracture than another injury type or injury."

Interesting article. Even with severe sleep deprivation and baby brain I can use my 6 years of post-secondary education (and analyzing and writing way too many such papers) to quickly look at the stats and methodology of this paper to see that my previous comment about children being highly unlikely to break a limb from being stuck between crib bars still stands.

The stats throughout the article clearly show a child is highly unlikely to injure themselves from being trapped between crib bars. This samples was taken over the course of 19 years. They found approx. 12 infants out of every 10,000 would be injured and of those falls out of cribs (62%) were the main source of injury followed by falls within the cribs (14%). This alone states that less than 3 children out of every 10,000 children MAY have hurt their limbs in a crib from being stuck between the bars.

I`d be curious what the rates of injury are in regards to having bumpers in the cribs.

This study shows that falling out of cribs is the biggest concern...and bumpers greatly increase the chances of a child falling out of their crib...therefore, as your study confirms, being in a bumper-less crib is still safest.

=Lee=B · October 2013

Your child, you do as you wish.

But the above poster was looking for solutions to an issue and when she questions the use of mesh bumpers because they are strongly frowned upon you wrote ``Well if you want to have to rush your child to the emergency room with a broken leg or ankle by all means`` which is just a silly scare tactic and not an answer to her questioning your advice to go against what the American Academy of Pediatrics strong recommends (which, interestingly enough is the journal you referenced above).

And yes, I used `not possible` above, which was my error. Few things in life are impossible...in this case a better use of words would be `statistically speaking, highly unlikely`. As you can appreciate it is very easy to get tunnel vision in what we see in our daily work and forget that it is not representative of the full population. Childhood cancer rates on a pediatric cancer ward is much higher than it is outside of the hospital.

Shoecrazysarah · October 2013

Laurendag said:

Shoecrazysarah said:

Laurendag said:

Shoecrazysarah said:

Laurendag said:
@shoecrazysarah I'm really confused as to why you think physiology has anything at all to do with physical injuries.

Human physiology is the science of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of humans, their organs, and the cells of which they are composed, including tendons and bones.

Mhm. So when your sick or injured you see a psychologist? No, when you get sick or injured you see a doctor. Because doctors are trained to treat you. Doctors go through years of schooling to treat you.
So I would trust a doctor about injuries over a psychologist. Psychologist really don't know a whole lot about what is actually possible for the human body to do.

PhD =/= MD
Psychologist =/= Medical Doctor.

Physiology and Psychology are not the same discipline. Either you did not read my post clearly before responding (which is rude), or your grasp on the English language is tenuous at best (which is laughable).
Your right. I did misread your original post. That doesn't change the fact that it does and can happen.

The problem has more to do with how you are letting your very limited experience influence your condesending advice to the OP. The threat from the bumpers is death, while the worst threat from the slats is a broken leg.

You seem to be arguing for the sake of being right. When the well being of the OP's child is considered, your behavior is shameful.

Shoecrazysarah · October 2013

Laurendag said:

Shoecrazysarah said:

Laurendag said:

Shoecrazysarah said:

Laurendag said:

Shoecrazysarah said:

Laurendag said:
@shoecrazysarah I'm really confused as to why you think physiology has anything at all to do with physical injuries.

Human physiology is the science of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of humans, their organs, and the cells of which they are composed, including tendons and bones.

Mhm. So when your sick or injured you see a psychologist? No, when you get sick or injured you see a doctor. Because doctors are trained to treat you. Doctors go through years of schooling to treat you.
So I would trust a doctor about injuries over a psychologist. Psychologist really don't know a whole lot about what is actually possible for the human body to do.

PhD =/= MD
Psychologist =/= Medical Doctor.

Physiology and Psychology are not the same discipline. Either you did not read my post clearly before responding (which is rude), or your grasp on the English language is tenuous at best (which is laughable).
Your right. I did misread your original post. That doesn't change the fact that it does and can happen.
The problem has more to do with how you are letting your very limited experience influence your condesending advice to the OP. The threat from the bumpers is death, while the worst threat from the slats is a broken leg.

You seem to be arguing for the sake of being right. When the well being of the OP's child is considered, your behavior is shameful.
What I said was condescending. I didn't think about how it would be perceived before I wrote it.

That being said, my 3.5 years of experience is far from limited. The danger of a mesh bumper is not suffocation but strangulation. As with everything baby related proper instillation and usage greatly effects the possibility of injury.

Although "for the sake of being right" the argument isn't about the safety of mesh bumpers. It's about the possibility of an infant breaking a bone by becoming trapped between slates.

3.5 years of experience that, more then likely, only been obtained in one or two demograhic areas is very, very limited. To think otherwise, shows just how limited your scope of knowledge on the matter really is.

The Epi study that you referenced states there is a very small likelihood of injury by an infant becoming stuck in the slates. Furthermore, this study did not take into consideration any underlying medical problems that may cause said infants bones to break easier. Nor did it indicate if these injuries were exacerbated by other items within the crib at the time of injury.

It is reasonable to weigh out the risk factors of mesh bumpers v. none. Again, based on the study you provided, it seems there is a far greater risk of injury from the bumpers then from becoming stuck in the slates. In addition, the injuries obtained from the use of bumpers have a far greater liklihood to be tragic.

mrsmichigander · October 2013

What about using your PnP until LO is a little bigger?

Erinkathleen21 · October 2013

My DD kept getting her legs and arms stuck and was up multiple times a night. We got a mesh bumper and have had no issues.

There are always going to be people that have different views and things aren't recommended but do what you feel most comfortable with. You know what's right for your baby.

michellersayer · October 2013

I used a bumper and my child is fine and 20 months old..

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