Crib Bumpers

[Anonymous]

Ok, fess up. I know they are technically against the rules but I'd love to know if people use them.

[Anonymous]

Yes! The crib looks funny without them. Also, my peditrician says he's never once heard of a baby smothering in his bumper. I think we're getting a little carried away with all these rules. We slept on our backs in cribs that were probably death traps and survived.

[Anonymous]

PP here, I meant slept on our stomachs.

[Anonymous]

I don't use them. If my Dr told me not to do something...I didn't do it. And honestly my son who is now 21 months never slammed into the crib and hurt himself, so I think they are unnecessary and I also would not risk it.

[Anonymous]

Yep, we use them. DS is a mover and a shaker at 5 months, but he's never ended up with his face smushed against the bumper.

They'll come off soon enough, when he starts using them to climb up.

[Anonymous]

I used one very briefly (one or two months) when DS went through a phase of putting his arms/legs through the crib slats and not knowing how to get them back out! I must say, I was always worried that I was doing the wrong thing.

[Anonymous]

I've used them for both of my boys and they both use them almost like body pillows. Never had a concern about them but both kids had really good neck strength from birth.

[Anonymous]

I'm so glad to see this posting. I just lowered our crib to the lowest level and took off the bumper-which was breathable (I got it after I had to take down the cute Pottery Barn kids one when I was worried about suffocation) So today when he took a nap-or I tried to get him to nap-he got his arm stuck and it freaked me out-the slats seem too far apart now to me--anyway-I put back part of the breathable bumper but now I think I'm going to put back the whole thing-plus I feel badly for him when the pacifier so easily falls right out to the floor he doesn't need it all night-just when he goes to sleep depending on how tired he is)

My friend told me today that she never took down the good bumper and she does not believe her daughter would suffocate on it-my son is so active that when he was falling without the bumper I was afraid he was going to break his nose or really hurt his head-plus he constantly bangs his head just in changing positions so that is another reason I like the bumper-

[Anonymous]

I never used it. Glad to not waste money on the bumper.

[Anonymous]

Timely post - we are in the process of trying to decide what to do with ours now that Ds is 5 months old. We have the plush kind (came with our bedding) and I hesitated at first but DS never budges from the center of the crib once he falls asleep, so we've felt it was safe to use. Now that he's starting to wiggle more (when he's awake, before he falls asleep), we're thinking of removing it.

On a related note, he can almost reach his mobile so we were going to remove that too, but realized if we lower the mattress setting, he'll be nowhere near it. If we do that, are we safe continuing to use it until he can sit up on his own?

[Anonymous]

We've used ours the whole time...I took it out only to have DS bang his head and get limbs caught in between the rails! So back to the bumper...which makes him feel cozy and I feel is a safer alternative for our situation.

[Anonymous]

MY dc is 11 month old and we still have the bumper in her crib. She never once got her head in it and even though she loves to stand up in the crib she does not use it to step on.

[Anonymous]

I used it until around 3 months. I admit I wanted the crib to look "pretty" before the baby was born, and then I planned to just see what kind of sleeper he was before deciding whether to keep it. My DS slept in the Miracle Blanket until around 3 1/2 months and didn't move an inch when he slept. I removed it when he stopped using the Miracle Blanket. By then I didn't really care if the crib looked pretty.

[Anonymous]

We still use bumpers at 21 months old. Like a PP said, my son cuddles up against the bumper, resting his head against one end and laying his body alongside it. He has never once had his face up against it or tried to use it to climb out of the crib. Our bumpers came with our bedding set, but is relatively flat/not too cushy, and had ties at both the top and bottom. Following those guidelines, I've never felt concerned about using them.

[Anonymous]

Another one here who used them even though I knew they were not necessary/recommended.