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Do you or did you use bumper pads in your child's crib? We did with one child and not with another. Doctors are warning parents that babies can become entrapped between the bumper pad and the railing. That can lead to the baby inhaling too much CO2 and suffocation.
The new study was done at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Dr. Bradley Thach says there were a few strangulations with bumper cord ties, but most of the death cases they saw were caused by suffocation.
The current guidelines for bumper pads call for avoiding pillow-like pads, but the new study showed all firmness levels posed dangers. Babies as young as one month old can wedge their head and neck between the pumper pad and the mattress. Dr. Thach said, “And then it flattens out over the back of their heads, usually, and babies don’t know how to go back.” The pad also creates a breathing hazard when a baby's face gets pressed against it.
It makes sense to me. I took the bumper pads off with my first son and put a net around the crib. It looked horrible, but it worked! He couldn't get his feet caught in between the railing, but he could still breath through the holes. He was one of those kids who liked to bury his face in the bumper pads.My second son doesn't want anything to do with the bumper pads, so they are still on. I am not sure that is the wisest thing to do after reading the new warnings. However, doctors say babies one month to eight months are at the most risk because they can scooch around, but may not have the head strength to untangle themselves. My son is almost 13 months (I can't believe he's that old!) Still, I will have to take the bumper pads off soon because he will probably start to stand on them and try to get out of the crib at some point. My eldest son did that and ended up with a broken collar bone!
About.com has an article that explains why bumper pads were invented in the first place. I wish the manufacturers would stop making them if they're not safe. They are so darn cute and they're everywhere. I don't know that I have seen a crib set without them! I'm sure a lot of new parents don't know they're not recommended by major health organizations.
Did you use bumper pads? Why or why not?
-NewsAnchorMom Jen
3 comments:
I never used the bumpers with Eliza because she was very active in the crib! I am a paranoid mom! I wasted my money on a crib set because all I ended up using were the sheets.
I never used a bumper pad. I thought about it, but never followed up and bought one. Why? I was in Germany, and the team my husband was playing for furnished our apartment, including the crib. There was not a bumper pad on the crib, and by the time The Boy was moving around and getting legs caught, we were going to be leaving (within a couple of months), so I didn't want to spend the absurd amount of money they wanted for one.
When we moved back to the US and got a crib, The Boy could get himself out of the rails most of the time, and then my husband went overseas, and The Boy moved in with me (i.e. cosleeping full time), so there was no need.
Long story short, I never found that I needed one at a time when I was willing to buy one or spend the time making one.
Makes me think even more that they really shouldn't sell all the stuff that comes with the crib bedding. I never used the comforter either. By the time he was big enough to use a blanket safety, the crib comforter was too small. It was pointless.
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