Crib bumpers?

[marchmommy]

I'm expecting baby #3 in a few weeks; with my first two, now 6 and 4, I used crib bumpers, and I bought a pretty one for the new baby. But a friend told me she didn't use on with her new baby b/c of safety issues. What is the current wisdom on whether one should use bumpers or not use bumpers?????

[AngelaS]

Current recommendations are to not use them. I never used them and we never missed them. :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Didn't use anything with ds1 but bought a mesh one for ds2. Mesh or nothing is the way to go, imo.

The safety reasons are mostly with suffocation and reduced flow of fresh air around baby. Baby can snuggle their face into the bumper pad. My ds1 was such a squirmer that withing weeks he was sleeping with his face in the corner of the crib and I would have been a wreck if a bumper had been there. The fresh air thing is starting to be really discussed as a SIDS thing. You want as much fresh air around baby's face as possible. The bumper keeps stale in the crib at level with baby's face. Air higher in CO2 may put baby into a deeper sleep which can cause them not to rouse when they need to.

With the mesh bumpers you can keep baby's limbs in but have fresh air around baby.

Beth

[infomama]

I would skip it.

[marchmommy]

Is there any concern w/o a bumper that baby will hurt herself when bumping into the wooden bars of the crib??

[crazydiamond]

We were aware of the strong recommendations against them and skipped them at first. We only use the crib for naps right now because we co-sleep. However, DD was/is a very strong scooter - and we found her ramming into the sides of the crib - head butts and arms and legs jammed through slots - crying. We put in bumpers, and I worried at first due to the warnings, but they work for us.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Didn't use, won't this time either. Twice, DD stuck her foot through, but it didn't wake her. We saw it, stuck it back in. no biggie. I vote for skipping it.

[wendibird22]

Had one but never used it because it wouldn't fit right on our convertible crib. DD was constantly (and still does) sticking arms and legs through the slats and banging her head into the ends in her sleep but she never woke herself up. So, IMO, skip it.

[srhs]

Another vote for the mesh! We didn't use the regular ones because of the safety concerns. In spite of bumpers being used/sold everywhere, every baby book, website, etc. I came across warned against them. SIDS Foundation too.
When leg started getting stuck, though, we ordered one made by www.breathablebaby.com. We ordered from WM, free sitetostore ship.

[lorinick]

I use them and love them. I actually still use them for my 16 mt old. I love the way they look. I needed to wash one yesterday and was upset it was all twisted. Lucky for me it had a zipper and the cushion stuff in the inside I was able to strighten. I vote to use them.

[misshollygolightly]

We currently use one on our 6 mo old DS's crib. I think it looks nice, but more importantly, DS still sleeps tightly swaddled (don't know why, but he likes it that way!) in the center of his crib, so there's no real chance of him getting entangled or suffocated by it. However, I plan to take it off once DS starts sleeping unswaddled. I figure at that point it's not really worth the risk, plus it will just be one more thing to try to keep laundered ;)

[AlisonJ]

I didn't use them. I was aware of the safety concerns and from my years of selling nursery furniture and bedding, I realized that most people use them these days for the look. It is a cute look but the cost and the risk isn't worth it to me. My son occasionally bumps his head but never hard enough to hurt him or wake him up. By the time the baby would be moving fast enough to really hit themselves hard on the crib, the bumpers should be removed anyway. IMO, they are a waste of money.

[arivecchi]

Current advice is not to use them until your child is old enough to pull up and move and not be suffocated by a bumper. I let my child use them when he was about 18 mos. and felt totally comfortable with it.

[Snow mom]

Current advice is not to use them until your child is old enough to pull up and move and not be suffocated by a bumper. I let my child use them when he was about 18 mos. and felt totally comfortable with it.

We're skipping the bumpers too. I thought that you were supposed to remove bumpers once the child is a bit more mobile (and certainly before 18 mos) due to the risk of them using the bumper to help exit the crib. Just curious.


~Lisa

[arivecchi]

My son still uses a sleepsak (the big kid toddler kind) and cannot lift his leg to climb over the bumper. LOL. We use the bumpers now because he moves around a lot in his sleep and he kept bumping his head at night. Now he loves his crib. It's a cozy nook, especially nice when you live in cold Chicago!

[essnce629]

I used one with Conner but won't use one this time around due to safety reasons. I tell all my doula clients not to use them either. They have a short lifespan anyways since you're supposed to take them out once baby is pulling up. Not buying a bumper means more money to spend on something else which is good in my book!