Bedding Do's & Don

[Anonymous]

Can someone please explain the nursery bedding to me? In the stores, I see these beautiful sets with a bumper, blanket etc and I keep reading that there shouldn't be any blankets in the crib. I am decorating the nursery now and thought the bedding was where I would start after the furniture. Help please.

[Anonymous]

We never got a bedding set--just 4 sheets in a pattern we liked. We did a conventional bumper at one point but later felt uncomfortable with it--there are mesh breathable bumpers that might have been better.

[Anonymous]

Here are the guidelines:

No blankets / quilts in the bed: Some people drape the quilt over the end of the crib or use it to lay the baby on else where in the house

For Bumpers you will see different messages. Here are some I have heard - no bumpers as they limit the air circulation and there is a higher incidence of SIDS associated with it (note - the highest relationship between anything and SIDS is having a smoker in the house. 75% of SIDS cases have smokers in the house). No bumpers as your child can roll into it and suffocate. Yes to bumpers as it prevents them from banging head / getting feet stuck through the slats of the crib.

You will need to decide for your self. We did bumpers - but took them out once my child was able to stand and was using the bumper as leverage for attempting to get out of the crib.

[Anonymous]

save your money. i was told that its never a good time to use bumpers etc. I am getting a crib skirt and sheets. That's it.

[Anonymous]

We got one of the bedding sets (included sheet, comforter, bed skirt, valance, bumper, and diaper stacker I think). Then we bought some of the accessories like the lamp, the hamper, and the wall art. I obviously wanted something easy that would instantly change the room into babyland without much effort. We didn't use the bumper, but bought a quilt hanger and hung the comforter on the wall.

[Anonymous]

SIDS awareness discourages blankets and bumpers. To keep DD warm, I use a sleeper sack - it has worked perfectly. (DD is 9.5 mo) When DD started banging against the crib, I bought a breathable bumper.

I bought the full set - but used it in a different way. For the crib I only used the sheet and the dust ruffle. The quilt (blanket) I hung on the wall above the crib. The bumper (I actually had 2 because I bought my crib bedding/decorations off ebay), I used as ceiling borders - one on each end of the room. I liked being able to use almost everything from the set - but in a different manner.

[Anonymous]

Just getting sheets and a crib skirt. No bumper and no blankets.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't get the bedding set, because a lot of the stuff isn't necessary, but I'm going to disagree on the bumpers. After a certain age (5-6 months in our case, I think) we started using one to prevent limbs getting caught in the crib slats. Maybe my kids were weird, but they both liked to kick their legs through the crib, and then they'd get stuck. I mean, REALLY stuck, painfully stuck. And the bumper helped. But we got a cheap, plain one, not a decorated one.

[Anonymous]

We got a bumper, couple sheets and crib skirt. We used the bumper for a while at first (before the baby could roll) and then once she could roll but didn't really have full body control we took it out. I put it back in around 8 or 9 months because she was rolling all over the place (especially when she started sitting up). She's fall over and clunk her head. Never had a problem with it. But do what makes you feel comfortable.