This past week I came across an article that surprised me. What is our government coming to? Maryland health officials proposed banning the sale of crib bumper pads for infants starting January 2013, a move that would make Maryland the first state in the nation to block the products from the market. In Maryland, the state’s chief medical examiner has attributed one child asphyxiation case to a crib bumper! Just one! And after two meetings they decide they can’t wait on officials to make the decision that bumper pads are risky. And Chicago became the first city in the U.S. to ban the sale of crib bumper pads. The City Council approved the ordinance, which was introduced after Chicago Tribune investigations suggested bumpers pose a suffocation risk to babies.Please! I can think of a list of ten items that pose a suffocation risk to babies. Are we going to ban babies sleeping with their mothers? Babies wrapped up in blankets? Bumper pads serve as a safety measure to protect tiny arms and legs from becoming entrapped between bars. Now, they are reporting they are a suffocation risk.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association maintains that crib bumper pads can help prevent injury when used correctly, and the ordinance which proposes to ban bumpers in the City of Chicago and Maryland could bring unintended consequences if crib bumper pads are not made available to parents and caregivers. I can see parents rolling up blankets to put around the crib or stuffed animals, which is worse! In March of 2011, Innovative Science Solutions (ISS) announced that a thorough review of published scientific studies performed for JPMA revealed no direct evaluation of a relationship between crib bumper pad use and infant death. The Exponent study said “Investigations into sleep environments of infants consistently fail to identify crib bumpers as a unique or separate source of serious injury or death to sleeping infants. Studies focusing efforts on evaluating sleep-related hazards generally, and crib bumpers explicitly, similarly do not find crib bumpers to be a significant risk.” Consequently, the JPMA is urging the State of Maryland to adopt regulations consistent with the use of safe, traditional, non-pillow like crib bumper pads.

 

Traditional crib bumpers, when used properly, can help prevent limb entrapments and head injuries. Follow these quick tips for the safe use of traditional bumper pads:

• Secure ties to outside of crib
• Keep bumper upright and in position
• Bumper ties no longer than 9″
• Remove bumper when child can sit up unaided or pull to standing position

 

Crib bedding sets continue to include bumper pads as part of the set. They will protect our precious little ones from bumping their head and poking arms and legs between the bars. Remember to remove the bumper pads when your child begins to pull up to a standing position, because the bumper pad provides an extra step to try to climb out of the crib. Otherwise, the bumper pads add to the complete room décor. At Babyiture.com we offer designer quality crib bedding in many styles and designs for nurseries today.