LO is 7 months old and we never used a crib bumper but now I'm thinking we might need to. In her sleep, I guess she moves around a lot because she'll wake up screaming because she has managed to jam her self into the corner of her crib with her head pressing against the slats and one of her limbs hanging out, and she can't get herself out.
Does anyone here use a crib bumper? What age did you start?
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
Yes I have always had a breathable bumper. I tried taking it off once and her leg got stuck in between the railings and she woke up so I have just left it on.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
We've always had the breathable bumper on. When she wakes up she rolls onto her tummy and is always bumping her head against the crib, so I'm glad it's on there to help soften it up a bit.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
OMg that's so sad! 
Once M started rolling around she would wake because she'd bump her head against the wall. I ended up padding the walls with cushions.
pomelo / 5321 posts
We have a breathable bumper. We've been using it since he was 4 and a half months old and we stopped swaddling. We tried to put LO in the crib without it and he immediately rolled over and got his arm stuck in between the slats.
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
Yes we did. It became handy come 6 months but removed it at about 14 months.
apricot / 498 posts
We use rolled up blankets (currently the A&A swaddle ones) since he loves to bang his head on the walls when sleeping. Our crib was hand-made so the off the shelf bumpers don't fit right.
If she's hitting though you may want to look at a cushioned bumper of sorts. I have looked at the breathable ones and they are not at all cushiony.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I put it on the crib when he was rolling and out of the swaddle. The breathable one didn't work for us, because he still bangs his head on the crib. It's not so much the slats as the banging head that causes us sleeping problems.
honeydew / 7968 posts
i bought a crib sheet set that has a bumper. i plan to use it from the beginning. MAYBE when they start moving, i'll downgrade to a mesh bumper.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
breathable bumper from day 1... works great and he can't use it as a stepping tool to try and climb out!
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
I am very curious about this. Everyone online says how unsafe bumpers are, but all the "reallife" moms I know say the bumpers are necessary because of how bad it can be when baby/toddler gets stuck in the slats.
So... what exactly makes the bumper unsafe, and what can I do to make the bumper I use a safe one?
kiwi / 623 posts
@looch: I know this post was from awhile ago but how has it been using the cushioned bumpers? My LO has started banging his head against the crib and I am contemplating getting a bumper...
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
@enjollah: LO is now 10 months old and just a couple of weeks ago I removed the last side of bumpers (I had been eliminating one side at a time). I had to remove them because when LO woke up from her sleeping, she'd get up and play by herself but learned to climb ON the bumpers for leverage, which is obviously unsafe.
pomegranate / 3383 posts
We don't have one now but will definitely invest in one when we wean from the swaddle.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@pastemoo: The AAP came out against them saying that there have been too many infant deaths associated with crib bumpers. Many babies have lodged their faces up to the side/corner of the crib pressed into the bumper and suffocated themselves, or they get strangled by the bumper ties. It wasn't very many deaths though, a little over 50 in one year? But still, it sounds scary. I suppose if you use a less padded one it might be a little better, or ones without ties. I was looking into the breathable bumper, but I suppose I will wait and see how LO does without a bumper first, as the AAP is against any type of bumper, or anything in the crib at all for the first 6 months.
But like you said, many reallife moms do use bumpers and are fine. It just scared me enough that I won't be using them personally.
GOLD / pear / 1845 posts
I said I wouldn't use them, then she woke up screaming at 6 months with her leg caught in the slats. So we used them from 6 months to a year. I decided to go with them as the SIDs risk is so much lower by that point.
pear / 1554 posts
I use the breathable bumpers. I have to because LO is ALL OVER the crib at night.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@enjollah: we still use it, at almost 18 months. My son always sleeps with his head and back right against the crib rails and I feel comfortable that he's not going to be stuck underneath it. I would make the same decision knowing the AAP recs.
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
I use the regular bumper (since the day we brought him home--he's 13 days old now), and we got a motion sensor monitor so if he stops breathing, the monitor will beep and we'll move him.
pineapple / 12526 posts
@Coco Bee: There have been 26 deaths that they say may have been attributed to bumpers over the span of 20 years from 1985-2005. There haven't even been 50, let alone 50 in one year.
We use a regular bumper. I feel like we're more likely to have a problem with her rolling and hitting herself or getting stuck than her suffocating.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@zippylef: ooh really? well I didn't read the article that closely, I just remember seeing a number around 50 or something. thanks for correcting it 
pomegranate / 3053 posts
Breathable bumpers are great. I think it's helped preventing arms/legs getting stuck between the slats. Although, even with it he's managed to get it stuck a couple of times when he was just playing around in his crib and not sleeping.
pomegranate / 3329 posts
We've used them from day 1, she's a week shy if 8 months. My husband also covers her up with a crocheted blanket. I was nervous at first, but she seems to do just fine and can mover herself around pretty well.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Yes, using a crib bumper. I'd rather have a crib bumper, than have her waking herself up by bonking her head or having a limb accidentally hang out. We started using the bumper when she was able to start rolling over both ways regularly... so I think around 5 months. I felt safe enough to do it at that age because she can lift her head and had control of her movements so the risk of suffocation seemed very unlikely to me. She's 17-months now and the bumper is still there!
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