Crib Bumpers or No Crib Bumpers???

At 15 months you can remove the bumper, but then you have issues with baby loosing things thru the bars. What we ended up doing is getting a new, "breathable" bumper: it's more mesh w/ a bit of padding (but not a lot) that kept things from falling out. The cost was only justified by the fact we were planning on a second child.

No bumpers. We never used them and never had a problem.

Yes! He is old enough to use it as a step to climb out. For younger babies they are not recommended either as they pose a suffocation hazard when children roll over into them and get stuck. The only reason people use them is to look pretty and to keep arms and legs from getting stuck, but once they're big enough to reach over them with their arms and legs it doesn't do any good for that either. A compromise I've found for my 5mo is the Breathable Baby brand thats mesh, but your son should be way past the point of needing a bumper.

No bumpers, your son could use them to climb out of his crib.

Hi S.,
Here's our experience. When our now 7 year old was just a few months old we decided to put him from a basinett to his crib. It had bumpers. Since his room was upstairs and ours was down, we were worried. I stayed up most of the night listening to the monitor for noises. On this particular night he was silent. Out of fear, I went into his room and found his head trapped between the bumper and the crib railing. The bumper was across his throat. I was freaked out. After that my husband basically tucked in the bumper between the mattress and the rails so that it wouldn't lift up and it still provided a cushion for him when he would move in his sleep. We never had a problem after that. We did this for two children and they are healthy and fine. We finally took them out once our boys started standing up on them to use as a makeshift stool to get out of the crib. Use your own judgement otherwise if you go with someone elses choice and something happens you will blame them. We did what worked for us. Good luck.

With my boys I took the bumpers out when they were 12 months. They never had issues with them, and hadn't ever used them to climb out--that's a new one one me and I've been at this mom thing for 21 years--always new stuff! In fact, they didn't get the monkey urge to climb out until the bumpers were gone. With my daughter, I left them in. Why? She was such a rambunctioius sleeper that she would roll forcefully into the crib sides, waking herself up. She used the bumpers until she was a little over two and then we moved her to a big girl bed. With impending baby #4 (another boy), I bought new bumpers and am very pleased with the "new" design of double ties: ties at the top and the bottom. Much more secure, and unless the kiddo is a Houdini, he'll never be able to wedge himself in between crib bumper and railing. I also tie my bumpers on with a granny knot or a square knot instead of a cutsie bow that's easily undone by little hands.

Basically it's a judgement call. If you think that the bumpers represent a hazard, by all means *take them out*. If your child has had no problems and the bumpers are securely fastened and not loose or sagging, (and if you little guy is a headbanger like mine), leave them in for a little longer. For what it's worth, they also provided a substantial amount of draft protection, too.

The risk is that a baby can suffocate in them. By 15 months, that is not a risk anymore. The risk for your baby is that he can use it to climb out. Make sure that the ties are tied loose enough that when he steps on it, it slides all the way down. Otherwise, it'll give him a boost.

No crib bumpers. Your child can become entangled in them and even become strangled. I would remove them.

I also vote for no crib bumpers- for all ages.

FYI, this is not new advice. 5 years ago when I was pregnant with my first I read that the American Pediatrics Association felt they were unsafe and should not be used. Makes me wonder why they're still made...

J.

Honestly I think people can find contraversy with just about anything these days. I think bumbers are practical, when infants and toddlers sleep it prevents them from putting thier feet though the crib rails and hurting themselves or waking up. Plus, my baby likes to half wake up and then opens her eyes and falls right back over and sleeps again. But the bumpers prevent her from hitting her head (usually) If you think you baby has out grown them, remove them. But I think it depends on the age of the child and your preferences.

At 15 months, he is probably standing in his crib. The bumbers would help him get a leg up and possibly be able to climb out of his crib. If you were using them, i'd remove them once they are standing in their crib.

use the one you have in there!
My kids all sleep better with one, they like feeling safe in there own area not all exposed in there crib.
Doctors have to tell us they are dangerous because of liability reasons, your son is old enough to be fine and if he does use it to climb out of the crib he'll most likely decide that wasn't too fun landing on his head and not do it again! (I speak from experience)

Good luck, be smart you know your kid better than any doctor does trust yourself, he'll be fine!

If the bumper is set up with an air flow space between the mattress and the bumper I don't see a problem for a 15month old. It's the little tiny ones that are just learning to roll over and have a dificult time manuvering themselves that this is an issue. Anything remotely connected to SIDS they don't want any of us to do.

I remember them talleing me to never lay my son on his stomach because of SIDS. The funny thing was that the only way I could get him to sleep longer than 2 hours was to do so!
He is 15 now, so he made it through even though I didn't listen to rules.

jem- Mom to seven

Wow... I think you've been lucky so far. Crib bumpers can be used by the child to help them climb out of the crib and in certain instances are a strangulation hazard. Be careful...

The reason that we had crib bumpers is that space between the bars in the old cribs were wide enough that the baby could push their head thru the bars and be injured. Cribs now have the bars close enough together that this can't happen.

Crib bumpers today are a tradition and add to the decor as well as the manufacturers bank account.

You should take them out for all the reasons already stated.

Hello,
My twin daughters are now 13 months old and I just recently removed their crib bumpers. One of my daughters was using it to stand on and fell out of her crib, no injury so very blessed and very few tears Thank God. We ended up lowering the mattress and removing the bumper, they sleep just fine without the bumper. I also read in a Baby magazine that its safer to remove the bumper to prevent climbing and suffocation. Hope that helps.

At 15 months, you're past the real stage of worry (like suffocating because your baby who couldn't lift their head up rolled into the bumper). That's the main reason people take them out or don't use them at all. Bumpers were invented to keep kids from sticking their appendages into the bars. We now live in a world that the distance between bars in a crib is measured and deemed "safe" by regulations, so essentially bumpers are now habit and decoration.

The other "worry" is that your child might be able to climb out with a boost from the bumpers. We had bumpers in our crib for my daughter (6 months old to 18 months old) and she never ever crawled up on them once to try to get out. She was used to them there, and never stood on them. Besides, the ones we had kinda squished down when you put any kind of pressure on them, so it wouldn't have been a very productive way for her to get a "boost" anyway!!

I think at this stage in his life, it's really your choice to keep them in or take them out. He's old enough to be past the worries of suffocation. If you think he'll use them to climb out, take them out. Other than that, they're a nice decoration.

Personnally to me the bumpers are a saving grace. I did remove them from the crib when our daughter turned a year old. Because she was using them to boost herself out of the crib. But to me the help keep their little feet and hands from getting caught in the slots of the crib while sleeping. As long as they are secured in place, I don't see what the problem is. I missed that episode on the TODAY show, would like to know their reasoning behind suggesting that parents not use the bumpers any longer.

Crib bumpers are fine for the infant, but once he or she is about to stand (even assisted standing), the bumpers should go. It's not a fashion reason, but a safety reason.

Mom of one almost 12 year old and nurse. And you should enjoy every moment...I still do...the good along with the not so fun stuff is still worth every minute!

Never ever use a bumper. Your child is too old to worry about SIDS but now he can use it to climb out of his crib. Take it out.

yeah, I agree, its time to take them out. He is old enough to go with out them and he will just use them as leverage to climb over

My pediatrician said it is a hazard because they can climb up them and get out of the crib. Also they can get tangled in them as well.
I used one for decoration for a while but took it out when the baby was starting to flip over in the crib at night.
Hope this helps,

S.

I say get rid of it. Highly dangerous and doesn't even look as good as most people think it does anyways. My son did great without one.