There has recently been a wildfire spread of safety recommendations when it comes to infant sleep. First it was dropside cribs, now it’s crib bumpers. The following article from Parenting.com states that according to the AAP, crib bumpers do not offer any type of protection against injuries but they do increase the risk of suffocation or becoming entangled and strangled. SIDS Prevention – Crib Bumper Safety – Parenting.com.
Being popular for many many years, bumpers come in many forms- some included in a bedding set as more of a decoration, and others in the form of mesh to be “breathable”. According to the article, all types are equally dangerous and should be avoided.
Part of me thinks it’s great that despite not really knowing what causes SIDS in most cases, great efforts are being made to reduce the number of deaths and heartbreaks for parents. The other part of me wishes the same type of wildfire spread happened with child vehicle safety. Can you imagine the advances we could make if as many people knew about rear facing recommendations as they did about drop side cribs and not using crib bumpers? The infant that is lovingly placed on their back on a smooth as glass sheet in a completely bare crib wearing appropriately skin tight flame retardant pajamas is quite possibly being strapped into an unstable seat traveling 65mph in a 2-ton weapon on wheels the very next morning. Where is the attention to that little detail? Why are consignment shops dutifully declining/trashing drop side cribs and bumpers but continuing to sell used or expired car seats?
Are we making advancements in all the right areas?
All the advancements in safety are wonderful, so many fewer children die from preventable causes now than used to be the case. That being said, people seem to have blind spots when it comes to safety for things they’re accustomed to. People are accustomed to bumpers, so they’ll argue the case. They ‘re accustomed to not uring childproof latches on cabinets, so they think it’ll be fine. Driving/car use seems to be a particular blind spot for a lot of people, as though just having the seat is a magic pass to safety.
A drop side was one of the things we looked for when searching for a crib as I’m quite short and really can’t reach in to the lowest level of the crib. It is amazing what happened to the cribs especially when there are plenty of people not even using restraints for their kids in the car.
I think it all boils down to the fact that carseats aren’t sexy. They’re very utilitarian, practical devices that get kids from point A to point B. Cribs with bumpers are cute and make the baby’s room frou frou with style and design. *We* know how important carseats are, but the vast majority of parents just don’t get it.
I was very disappointed when drop-side cribs were banned. It is a great design concept for short moms like me. The problem was the cheaply made drop-sides, where the only thing holding up the side was a sliver of cheap plastic. Of course those would be dangerous, but a quality made drop-side crib with real metal and solid wood parts is not. It’s completely ridiculous to me that they did that.
I’m always amazed at the number of babies’ rooms that still have bumpers, and the photos I see where they have obvious issues buckling their kids in safely (chest v. belly clips etc), to say nothing of the right installation in their car.
I do feel the need to add though that not all dropside cribs were recalled, some manufacturers have dropside cribs that were safely made from the beginning and didn’t have the same safety concerns as Stork Craft (et al) cribs, like College Woodwork.
The stores are trashing cribs because its illegal to sell those old ones. If someone made it illegal to sell the seats they’d be scrapping them too.
You read my mind! I think a lot of people assume that simply putting the child into a seat is what makes them safe, and don’t know about what goes into making sure that seat is safely used and installed. And I think it’s also an issue information overload. I know two families who care are a lot about car seat safety, but they had forgotten to switch their classic Marathon’s lower latch from rear-facing to forward facing. There’s just so many details to keep track of with car seats. It’s easier to keep the do’s and don’ts of other safety issues straight.
And I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard, “We didn’t use car seats and we were fine.” My usual response is, “Not all of “us” were.” Which usually makes people stop and think, and often agree that’s a good point. Someday I hope we reach the point that the only deaths are the unsurvivable crashes.
Well sometimes it the right catalyst that can make the difference. I don’t get it, why isn’t it a top priority -it’s the#1 killer of children. If we had disease that was the #1 killer of children and the cure was a simple and immediate solution the media would be all over it.
Timely article! I just heard on the news that Maryland has become the first state to ban sales of crib bumpers.
Isn’t that the truth, I really wish as much care was given to vehicle safety as other areas. I have to ask though – is crib bumpers being a bad thing a fairly recent announcement in the US? Health Canada has advised against them for I want to say over 10 years now. (Although I didn’t know that breathable bumpers posed risks similar to non-breathable, that’s interesting.)