Question:
Should I use a baby crib bumper?
Answer:
I used them when my girls were infants and I even made a nursery set for my new grandson, including the crib bumper. The bumper is tied at intervals along the length and width of the crib in such a manner that he couldn’t get entangled in it. If you want to use a crib bumper, just make sure it has ties at the top and the bottom of it all down the length and across the ends so that it can be fastened securely. Crib bumpers provide protection from drafts and can keep the baby’s head cushioned. Newborns, especially, like to feel rather closed in because they’ve just come out of the confines of the womb and some of them tend to scoot toward a corner of the crib while sleeping. Since infants don’t have the capability of untying a securely tied crib bumper, I don’t see any danger in having one. If you have a child who is curious and deft enough to untie a knot, then check the bumper frequently.
So I create a collection of bestselling baby crib bumpers:
Breathable Baby Universal Crib Bumper
Customer review: I was thinking maybe I’d just go without bumpers, but at about 5 months, my daughter started moving a lot in her crib, and I’d find her in the morning or in the middle of the night sleeping sideways in the crib, with her legs sticking out the side of the crib. At first, I thought it was sort of funny and decided it really wasn’t dangerous, but one night, I found that she had used her new rolling skills to roll over onto her tummy. But she not only was on her tummy, she had her legs sticking out the side of the crib (almost up to her thighs) and thus was stuck on her tummy. This really scared me, as she wouldn’t have been able to roll onto her back, and this could have increased her SIDS risk. I started using the mesh bumpers within days after that and I feel SO much better now. Legs and arms remain in the crib. I waited to submit this review a few weeks because I wanted to make sure that she couldn’t get her legs or arms stuck in the bumper, but no, the mesh (although not 100% taut) has not presented any new hazards. It even works well with the drop-side (the drop-side slides down with the mesh bumper still in place).
One thing to note: I never could tell from the online description whether this product had any cushioning. It does have some cushion to it, but if that’s the main thing you need a bumper for, a traditional bumper would be better for that problem. Buy from Amazon.
Carters Super Soft Baby Crib Bumper
Customer review: I eventually bought a breathable bumper to keep my son from putting his arms and legs through the crib bars. However, he still constantly banged into the sides of the crib with his head all night. Since he is now nine months old, I decided he could have a real bumper in his crib and purchased this one. This bumper is wonderfully soft and plush. We have a sleigh crib and I was worried it would not fit, but it fit perfectly! The best thing of all is that our son no longer is banging his head into the crib and waking himself up at night. He is getting much better sleep now and I think he actually feels more secure now that he feels more “enclosed.” This bumper is great and was a great price (much less than buying a bedding set.) It goes great with my Carter’s jersey sheets. I highly recommend it! Available at Amazon.
Breathable Baby Crib Bumper for Slatted Cribs
Customer review: After a couple of times looking into my daughters cribs and finding them sleeping with their face smooshed rig up against their traditional bumper and almost having a heart attack while picking them up to make sure they were still breathing, I decided to take off their bumpers.
Their cribs are slatted all the way around and I soon learned that no bumper was just as unsafe as having one. Both of my girls got their arms & legs stuck ALL the time. Since I was so worried about them getting stuck I came in their room at every little peep and was sleeping on egg shells.
Thankfully I did because one night my daughter started crying and I rushed in to find her with her right arm sticking out the side of the crib and she was FACE DOWN and unable to push herself up off of her face with only her left arm because her right arm was stuck outside of the slat and could not push against anything. That was something I never wanted to happen again and thankfully I was going into their room at every little peep. Both of my daughters ended up doing that again the next day while my husband was at work. So I decided once my husband got home we were going to the store and buying some right away.
They were very easy to put on and fit our cribs great. There are a few spaces were there is a gap but they are in the corners and not where my daughters would get their arms stuck while sleeping.
FINALLY my daughters were not getting their arms or legs stuck! I also did come in a few times to find them sleeping with their faces smooshed right up against this mesh bumper but I didn’t almost have a heart attack like with the regular bumper because I had tested it out myself and saw how easily it is to breathe through.
I also like that if my daughters try to stand on these to get themselves out, it crumbles and they are not able to get out. And even though these are breathable they are still soft, my daughters have hit their heads a few times and it didn’t hurt.
After having these I was finally able to get a good nights sleep. If I had to do it all over again I would have ONLY purchased these and not a regular bumper. Hospitals tell you not to have a bumper in your baby crib and just because a regular bumper might match your bedding & be “really cute” that isn’t worth risking your baby’s safety. Buy from Amazon.
Go Mama Go Designs Crib Bumpers
Customer review: I find this to be a great product for my son as he would constantly pull on the traditional bumper and I was afraid he’d get trapped underneath it. I tried going without any sort of bumper but the little man would bonk his head on a crib slat in the middle of the night and be woken up. I like the fact that the pads are reversible (blue/brown) and are easy to install. Another plus is that you don’t have to remove the Wonder Bumpers when changing the sheet or mattress pad. When my package arrived, several of the bumpers (on the blue side) were caked with dust; this was disappointing as it curbed my initial enthusiasm for this (expensive) product. Another interesting observation is that there does not seem to be great consistency in the padding provided by each individual slat cover…some are definitely more padded than others which resulted in me strategically installing the more padded slat covers when my son needs them most. Available at Amazon.
Breathable Baby Mesh Crib Bumper
Customer review: This bumper is really cute. I got this color because I did not really like how see-through the solid color ones seem. This one is perfect. The fabric is very nice also. I held it tightly to my nose and was still able to breath pretty easily. The colors make it easy to match to whatever sheet color I feel like using. It can easily go with a light pink/hot pink themed room or a neutral/brown themed room. The lavender in it is also very pretty. I ordered a hot pink bed skirt to got with this after seeing my hot pink crib sheet by it. Buy from Amazon.
Baby CozyWedge Crib Bumper
Customer review: Our son was rolling over and planting his face against his old padded bumper. This bothered us for breathing reasons, but without the bumper he would push his arms and legs outside the crib, get stuck, and cry. This resolved both issues. He places his face against the hard material, but can still breathe. The wedge shape also keeps his arms and legs in.
The only reason I did not give this four stars is due to the price. There is no way this should cost $60 (maybe $30) but in my opinion this is way overpriced. There doesn’t seem to be an alternative we could find, so hopefully another company will enter this market to make the price reasonable for others. Available at Amazon.