By: Katie Harrison


Crib bumpers are pillow-like padding placed around the interior of cribs, helping to prevent babies from falling through the crib bars, or hitting their heads on the bars and getting hurt. Crib bumpers can be very cute and many parents use them not only for their baby’s comfort, but for décor. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns that crib bumpers create risks of suffocation and strangulation and should be avoided.

Dr. Bradley Thach of Washington University, along with others, examined data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and found that between 1985 and 2012, there were 48 infant and baby deaths related to suffocation due to crib bumpers.
The report, published in The Journal of Pediatrics, reports that there were “3 times more bumper deaths reported in the last 7 years than the 3 previous time periods.” Of those deaths, 67 percent were caused by the bumpers themselves, while the remaining deaths were caused when the infants were wedged between the bumpers, pillows, or other children in the crib. Some babies swallowed the ties of the bumpers.

Dr. Thach warns that even practicing safe sleeping would not prevent children from suffocating from crib bumpers. “We recommend that CPSC ban traditional crib bumpers for sale in the U.S. quickly.”


Photo: jovanmandic
Published: December 1, 2015