5 Things You Must Know About Crib Bumper Pads

My youngest brother was born when I was ten years old. I remember quite clearly the trip to the store we made to buy his crib. Because he came along so much later than my other brother and I did, my mother had to start from scratch. This was quite an expensive endeavor for her at the time, but she had fun choosing things for her new baby. One thing that she bought that many people will not buy today is a set of crib bumper pads. Though they were a good idea then, many people know that they are not safe today.

Crib bumper pads were originally introduced to keep a baby from bumping his or her head against the rails on the crib. These were quite practical, and I can imagine that they did do what they were intended to do. The set of crib bumper pads that my mother purchased was tied to the rails of the crib all the way around the inside. My brother was quite active, and I’m pretty sure they saved him from bumping his head quite a few times.

Today however, many people refuse to buy crib bumper pads. When my daughter was an infant, someone gave me a set of these for her crib. I rolled them up and put them away in the closet. Though I still think crib bumper pads are useful, I know that they can also be dangerous. There have been many babies
who have gotten their heads caught between the pads and the rails, or perhaps gotten the pads wrapped around their heads, and this has lead to injury and even death. Once this happened, many companies and doctors advised against using them.

I think you can still buy crib bumper pads today. They do look really great in a crib, and I can understand why some parents want to have them. However, I would personally rather have my baby bumped his or her head a few times than to have them become strangled or suffocate because they got their head caught within the crib bumper pads. SIDS has become a very serious problem, and there are certain guidelines you should follow to help prevent this from happening to your baby. If you have crib bumper pads in your baby’s crib, perhaps this is the time to remove them for good. In the end, it is far better that your baby bump his or her head a few times than to take a chance with their life.