Do you use bumper pads?

[EagerlyAwaitingBaby]

I use them. DD is 14 months and they are still in. She has never tried to use them to escape the crib. I don't mind changing the sheets with them. I don't think they make changing the sheets harder. DD is also a mover and I was worried about her getting her limbs caught. When DD was 4 months we were at a hotel and the loaner crib did not come with a bumper. And DD woke up CONSTANTLY from banging herself against the rails.

SIDS is unexplained death - there is no cause. And I don't really see how a baby that can't roll over can suffocate on bumpers. When they are newborns they don't move much in their sleep.

[o_mom]

The SIDS advice to remove bumpers comes from the "no fluffy bedding" rule. One of the possible causes of SIDS is that a lack of airflow causes re-breathing of exhaled air which does not have enough oxygen. This is NOT the same as suffocation.

A baby that can't roll over also can't bang against the rails or get limbs caught. By the time they are moving enough to do that you are getting beyond the recommended age for bumpers anyway.

Kids are all different. Mine have never had bumpers and have never woken up because they hit the rails. They learn where the rails are just as you learn where they edge of your bed is.

[sbjf]

We always have used them and will continue to do so.

[Jo..]

I don't plan to use them.

Taken directly from the Sids website:

Reducing the Risk:

"Place infants to sleep...(on) a firm mattress.
There should be nothing in the bed but the baby - no covering, no pillows, no bumper pads and no toys" .

http://www.sids.org/nprevent.htm

Yes, most babies are fine even when bumper pads are used, but why take the chance?

I wouldn't worry too much about the baby injuring him or herself without bumpers in place.
As prior posters have stated, infants don't move around much.

I have read that it is virtually impossible for an infant to hit its head hard enough to sustain any significant injury.
If they get a limb stuck between the crib bars and can't extract it on their own (unlikely), they will cry until someone is alerted.
In the meantime it's not life-threatening.

Just my opinion...I've had nothing but time to do a ton of research and tend to be a compulsive worrier.
But I say "better safe than sorry", and tend to take expert advise into consideration whenever it's available.

[EagerlyAwaitingBaby]

I guess I'm a big rule breaker when it comes to the SIDS rules. DD sleeps with bumpers, toys and a blanket (we used a blanket from day 1 but she was actually in a sleep positioner with the blanket up to her armpits. It was January in Chicago - no sleep sack alone was warm enough). I personally think people are too paranoid.

I can see how a baby could be smothered in a blanket. Or even a huge stuffed animal (it can roll on top of them). I just cannot see how a baby can suffocate on a well-secured bumper unless it is the super thick pillowy kind. We have the PBK kind and I don't think ever was a suffocation risk.

I think the bottom line with bumpers is how comfortable you feel using them. I feel fine, as do most people I know IRL. I plan to use them again with Baby #2. I think on this one you'll have to go with your gut b/c some people are convinced it causes SIDS (Still waiting for the proof!) and some people don't.

[Cynner]

We got the Mesh bumper pads - they seemed to be the best of both worlds. No re-breathing or suffacation risk because air passes right through them and will keep the baby's limbs from getting trapped in the slats. Baby's not born yet, but that's what we went with. I also got the Tiny Love black & white partial bumper pad just for more visual stimulation but will take that out after a few weeks.

[o_mom]

Well, as you have pointed out before, suffocation is NOT SIDS. They are different. The SIDS risk with bumpers (and other soft bedding) is not suffocation, it is re-breathing.

[EagerlyAwaitingBaby]

>Well, as you have pointed out before, suffocation is NOT
>SIDS. They are different. The SIDS risk with bumpers (and
>other soft bedding) is not suffocation, it is re-breathing.
>
>
Do you use a bassinet? Would you use a crib with solid sides? How are 8 inch bumpers different from the sides of a bassinet - which is smaller than a crib? Has there been a single case of any baby dying from crib bumpers?