Bumper or No Bumper?

We used a breathable bumper pad & loved it. If he lays against it, he can still breath, but it keeps his arms & legs it the bed. I found it at One Step Ahead: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

We had a bumper in my daughter's crib until recently. She is 20 months now. We had no problems with it.

I think in this case you need to go with your mommy instinct about what is best for your child. My son is such an active sleeper that I never worried about if he slept on his stomach or his crib bumpers. But bumpers do move, so that won't keep a baby from getting their legs stuck (my son does that occasionally too). I have taken the bumpers out to wash them and my son won't sleep in his crib without them now! LOL! Not sure what the reason for that is. I'm sorry if I havent' really given you much advice, but like I said I think you need to go with your gut on this one... you know your child the best.

I had the same fears about bumpers when I transfered my son to his crib. My solution was to buy a "breathable bumper"--basically soft mesh that cushions baby, but fabric allows infant to breathe if he/she is pushed up against it. Made me feel much better and allowed both my son and myself to sleep better at night.
I ordered mine online, and a think it was through Target, but you can just google breathable bumper, and Im sure you'll get plenty of hits. Good luck!

Hi A.!
I had the same concerns that you are having. I have 3 kids and I used one with the first child, but everytime he rolled, his face was pushed up against the bumper. After that, I just did away with it. My youngest is now 17 months, and he has gotten his leg stuck a couple of times between the rails of his crib. He is fine though. To me, the whole thought of walking into his room and finding him not breathing is far more scary than his leg getting stuck once in a while. Worst case, a sore or broken leg, sounds better than a baby not breathing. I hope this helps a little. Sorry if I scared you, but these were my thoughts when deciding what to do.

Kim

I used a bumper on both of my boys in the crib. It really helped with my second son being that he moved around alot in his sleep.

www.livetotalwellness.com/missouri

Despite all of the SIDS claims I am still a firm believer in using a bumper. We recently transitioned our 6 month old daughter to her crib and within 2 nights she got her foot stuck in the slats and bruised her ankle. We put the bumper back on and feel a like more comfortable that she won't hurt herself.

I had the same dilemma when my daughter was about your son's age. My daughter moved around so much at night that I was fearful that she would get herself pressed against the bumper and suffocate. We tried it without the bumper for one night and somehow our daughter got her two legs stuck between the slats and woke up screaming. So we bought a breathable bumper sold at Babies R Us and it worked great. Even if she pressed her face against it, she could breath through it but it also gave her protection from bumping herself against the crib.
Hope this helps.
S.

Hi A., I used a bumper pad with my kids and it helped alot, especially since my youngest kept bashing his head against the railings. Yeah, they also get their little legs stuck too
without one. Just make sure it fits good aganst the crib and take it out once they learn to pull themselves up because they use the bumper pad to stand on and catapult themselves over the edge. :) Good luck!
M.

We had the bumper in my son's crib until we found out that they were no longer recommended. He is almost 12 months and when we found out he was about 4 months. We took the bumper off and yes, he got his little leg stuck a few times (maybe 4 or 5 times). It never happened in his sleep but usually when we were laying him down for a nap/night and he was still awake, maybe playing or rolling around. He always let us know though as he would scream. I'm sure it scared him and maybe even hurt, but we would quickly rescue him and he would settle right down. After two weeks he no longer got stuck. I don't know if he learned to not stick a leg through the slats or if he just could maneuver out of it on his own. I understand about it being scary but I think the risk of leaving the bumpers in far out weighs the occasional stuck leg.

Funny side note about taking the bumper out. One big down side is that you can no longer sneak into your babies room without them seeing you. So get ready to do some stealth moves... army crawling here I come. LOL

I did have a friend that kept the bumpers on because without them her son's pacifier would fall out and she would have to get up to retrieve it because he couldn't find it. My son doesn't use a pacifier at night but I did have to deal with this occasionally at nap time.

Good luck.

Like you, I wondered about this, too. I just could not get comfortable with those fluffy, cushioned bumpers, so we bought the BreathableBaby bumper. I am so glad we did because there are many times I've checked on him during the night and he has his face pressed against it. I know if we had the fluffy ones, he wouldnt be able to breath through it like he can now. If you really want a bumper, this is my recommendation. If they were not available, I personally would risk limbs through the slats.

I used the bumper pad in my sons crib until he was old enough to stand on his own.

I think the bumper keeps a child comfortable in his or her crib. We kept it in my daughter's crib until recently (she is almost 2 and half years old). When we turned the crib into the toddler bed, the bumper had to come out. If we had left it as a crib, I definitely would have left the bumper in.

I didn't use this myself, but I recently saw a "breathable bumper" online at www.onestepahead.com. It's priced reasonable and it will keep the baby's limbs inside and you wouldn't have to worry about SIDS. I have ordered items from this website and have had good luck.

I have a bumper that's a thin mesh that babies can breath through. I think I got it at Babies R Us. ??? You could look it up.

We used a bumper with all 3 of our kids. With our youngest, it turned out to be a good thing because when he woke up he would rock on all his hands and knees and "hit" his head against the bars... so the bumpers were a blessing!

Hi A.,

Well for me my youngest daughter was sleeping in her crib by 6 weeks, so I didn't really have to worry about the transistion.

She is now 13 months and she just moved into her toddler bed. Up until now she has always slept with her bumper pad on her bed. She flopped around like a fish so we just kept it on there.

So I don't know, I guess it's just what you prefer. W.

I would say go for it since he is at the age that even if his face was to be up against them, he can still turn his head.