Jul 3, 2012

The Bumper Controversy



I am throughly confused.

To bumper or to not bumper.

Miss Priss is mobile, y'all.  She is a restless sleeper and all over her crib.  I have no idea where she got this from. . . ahem.  Tummy, back, side, and every position in between.  Her head ends up where her feet started.  She sleeps horizontally.  She sleeps vertically.  I dutifully lay her on her back to sleep, and check on her five minutes later to find her on her tummy, face smushed down unto her mattress.


At my parents' house her crib is bumper free.  My sleep was also free from continuous.  A little arm or little leg would manage to find it's way through the slats of her crib.  That would be it for the nap or a night's sleep.  One little bonk of her head during her nightly rotations and gyrations and I could kiss my sleep goodbye.  Farewell, sweet slumber.

Now we are back.

Her crib here has bumpers.  Like such.



Not poofy. Damn if that girl is not super cozy and back to taking naps and sleeping again (knock, knock, knock on wood!).

So what to do?  Pretty much everyone I know has bumpers.  I survived bumpers.  But then you google bumpers, and they are apparently a dangerous choice/deathtrap.  Oh, law.

I just do not know what to do.  Obviously, I do not want to choose sleep over the safety of my beloved baby.  However, I do need to sleep.  I love to sleep.  Especially for more than two hours at a time.

My instincts are that she is fine with her bumpers, and enjoy the coziness they bring.  As well as the head-cushioning properties.  Then I wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning, debate my worries for fifteen minutes, and go check to see if she is breathing.



Please share what you fellow mamas did regarding bumpers.  To bumper or not to bumper, that is the (neurotic yuppie mama) question.

23 comments:

  1. Ha. Same issue over here. I will be stalking the comments. SS is sleeping with bumpers right now and it has helped with the limbs getting stuck.

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  2. I had the same issues and worries. We started with bumpers, but I took them out within 6 weeks because she was a mover and I was worried she'd get herself up against them but not be able to get her face out. (No idea if this was a valid concern or not.) When the arms and legs started poking out between the crib slats, I went to breathable bumpers. These were fantastic. Just a tiny bit of cushion between her and the slats, no stuck arms and legs and no worries for mama. I highly recommend them! We just took them out and put her old bumpers back in because I just love them and she's so mobile now that I have no fear of suffocation.

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  3. We use bumpers, always have. Jack sleeps better with them. I think it depends on the child. Jack has had great control of this neck since day one and naturally moved his head around. I just watched carefully to his movements to make sure he could recognize when he needed to move. All of these warnings and recalls have a lot more to do with the parents than the children, in my opinion. The crib and bumper combo is just precious and if it means everyone sleeps better - I SAY USE IT!

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  4. I used a mesh bumper that matched the color of the crib.That way, arms and legs cannot escape but that if he ended up face first into the bumper, he would be able to breathe. The issue with bumpers that I know of is when they are rolling around and stick their face in the bumper while sleeping and can't move away from it and suffocate.

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  5. My son was a mover and a shaker too. I removed the bumpers when he was about 3 months old and put them back in when he was around 6 months. He is now 18 months and LOVES sleeping against the bumpers and they help guard against the arms/legs poking through the slats.

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  6. SO funny you put this...i think any baby mother thinks about this debate-here is my two cents (for what it's worth):

    ours are in, too. caroline is just like DH, ALL over the place...she wiggles her way up to the top of her crib and hits her head-if it wasn't for the crib she would have some major knots from going bump in the night. HOWEVER, we invested in an angelcare monitor that goes under her mattress and monitors for movement and sound so it ensures she is breathing...this was the best $100 we've ever spent and gives me the peace of mind to let me actually have a good night of sleep every night...definitely something to check into!!

    good luck lady!

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  7. I also debated this issue- my son loves to move around and always had his face against the bumpers. I didn't want any little hands stuck in the rails, so I needed something. And let's face it, bumpers are just so pretty in the crib! However, I replaced the bumpers with the breathable mesh bumpers (ordered from Babies R Us) and they have worked out just great.

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  8. Longtime reader first time commenter. I used a bumper. My daughter has always moved a ton in her sleep. We has to take it out at 7 months bc she was standing on it and using it to get leverage so she could get her foot over the side (she is part monkey). Trust your mommy instinct!

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  9. I used bumpers for Hudson until he was using them to stand on!

    He would always sleep up in 1 corner of the crib & without bumpers hit his head.

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  10. You know your child best - if your Mama Instinct says "use 'em", go for it.

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  11. official recommendations is to never use bumpers because of the increased risk of SIDS.

    we chose to use them only after our son was able to consistently, purposefully and strongly roll over both front to back AND back to front. once they can do this they can theoretically protect their own airway.

    as a compromise you could look into the mesh bumpers that are out there. they allow airflow while still preventing limbs from sneaking out the sides of a crib

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  12. Whilst pregnant and during the itty bitty immobile baby stage, I was all "why invest in bumpers if they pose any risk at all -even a slight one?" So I did not have bumpers made when I selected L's bedding. Now I have a Wildthing Sleeper. She always ends up with a foot in a slat or a head bonking the side. I think I'm going to invest in mesh ones (ugly, boo) - I think it's a good compromise, plus it would be a hassle to go back and have matching ones made.

    I think you know DH best and it seems like she is strong enough to roll away from the bumper if her face got pressed up against it. Hell, I slept with blankets, baby pillows and stuffed animals at this age - she'll be just fine!

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  13. First of all, she looks JUST like you! So cute! We started with bumpers, but both of my babies were active in the crib and liked to snuggle and worm their ways under things. Therefore, I removed the bumpers b/c I was too worried that something bad could happen. One bonk here, a little bonk of the head there, it was okay and we all survived. Go with your gut. All babies are different and you do what's best for your little one. :)

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  14. We are not a bumper household. I ran across recreation photos of suffocation deaths caused by bumpers while I was pregnant and I knew there was no way I could use them! But Caroline's just shy of 6 months and we've had no stuck limbs yet, so we'll see what happens if we start having that problem. I will also say we have a Angelcare monitor because she's a tummy sleeper and I was getting no sleep worrying about that! So I am certainly a neurotic mama too!

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  15. We went back and forth on this when I was pregnant. We ended up having bumpers made and when Margot was really little and immobile I kept the bumpers only on three sides. This was just so I could see her easier when I went in to check. Once she started moving while she slept we had the same problems, arms and legs in the slats, bonking her head on the rails etc. So now we use the bumpers. At first I worried but upon further (obsessive) observation of her sleeping, I have noticed that she moves so well I have a hard time believing she could actually get herself stuck up against the bumpers. That all being said now she is getting very close to pulling herself up and I think I need to pull out the bumpers to prevent her from climbing out! We'll see how that goes.

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  16. We use the mesh bumpers too because they are safe. My son breakdances in his sleep and ends up in the craziest positions. I feel comfortable with the mesh bumpers because they keep his limbs inside and the air moves through them.

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  17. I can't wait to read comments and find out what you decide, as I'm going through this too. Waverly is still in the pack n play in our room, but that isn't going to last much longer. We have a set of breathable bumpers, and also the regular bumpers from her bedding set. Torn as well... My mind is saying "pretty! comfy! cushioned! Everyone else is using them and the babies are FINE" and my google research is screaming "SIDS!!!"... Ah, parenthood...

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  18. We use a mesh bumper too. It keeps Owen from hurting himself and he won't get smothered either.

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  19. We used bumpers from day one. When she was swaddled, they weren't a concern. Then when she could move, they cushioned her head and legs as she loves to bang against the bars. We've never had an issue with them. I do think this is something you have to go with your gut on. I didn't even know people didn't use bumpers til the blog world.... oops.

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  20. Aren't these decisions fun? Sigh. You've got to do what's best for your individual wee one, but of course it's tough knowing what that is when the internet is screaming "DEATHTRAP!"

    We didn't do bumpers at all until around five months or so, when Master P was out of the swaddle & really started scooting around in his crib. Getting an arm or leg through the slats didn't bother him, actually, but it worried me, so we went with those heinous looking "breathable bumpers" from the dread BRU.

    We were happy with the breathable ones for a long while (in effect, not in appearance); I only recently took them out when he started using them as a stepping device to try & propel himself out of his crib.

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  21. I think this is such a "go with your gut" decision. Personally, I won't use them. J is a mover when sleeping but I've sadly known several families to lose babies to SIDS. I think the education for parents has made such improvements in the number of cases but I know me and our daughter and I think she does fine without them.

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  22. I agree with (and appreciate) the number of comments telling you to go with your gut. I went with my gut, and we used them and still do. It's worked for me, but you have to be at peace with the decision. Good luck! And Dell Harper is so precious!

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  23. Well ignorance is bliss, because I had no idea this was such an issue. I used bumpers from the very beginning and they're still in Miriam's crib. She would always snuggle up in the corner like they were pillows. So I think they're fine, but I'm no expert. Miriam pulls her blanket and a stuffed animal on her head to go to sleep and we've made it the last 2 years!

    Oh and don't worry I still wake up panicky every once in a while worried if she's breathing. I think it's just part of being a momma. You can't turn the worryin' off!

    xo

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