‘Crib bumpers are killing kids’ and should not be sold: U.S. study

The number of infant deaths and injuries attributed to crib bumpers has “spiked significantly” in recent years in the United States, according to a new study. The analysis was conducted by two former researchers with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and a professor emeritus of pediatrics at Washington University, School of Medicine in St. Louis, who first documented crib bumper deaths in 2007.

“Crib bumpers are killing kids,” said Dr. Bradley Thach. “Bumpers are more dangerous than we originally thought. The infant deaths we studied could have been prevented if the cribs were empty.”

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Most of the infants died due to suffocation. The authors indicate crib-bumpers are the cause of harm in the majority of the cases – as opposed to blankets, pillows and stuffed animals.

READ MORE: Study: Too many infants still in unsafe sleeping conditions

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Researchers reviewed CPSC data, it showed that 48 infant deaths from 1985-2012 were specifically attributed to crib bumpers and 146 babies nearly suffocated, choked or were strangled.  The mean age of death was 4.6 months, with an age range of one to 22 months. Researchers believe the actual numbers are higher but not all deaths are reported.

Since the original research was released in 2007 the industry has responded with thinner bumpers and mesh bumpers, but the researchers still feel that they pose a threat, or they lack safety data.

“A ban on crib bumpers would reinforce the message that no soft bedding of any kind should be placed inside a baby’s crib,” Thach said. “There is one sure-fire way to prevent infant deaths from crib bumpers: Don’t use them, ever.”

The Canadian Paediatric Society instructs parents to not use crib bumpers:

• Keep soft materials out of your baby’s sleep environment.
• Items that should not be in the crib include quilts, comforters, bumper pads, stuffed animals, pillows and other pillow-like items.

Health Canada also does not recommend using bumper pads:

• Babies can suffocate if their faces become pressed against the fabric of a bumper pad.
• A baby’s head can get trapped between the bumper pad and the side of the crib.
• Long ribbons, strings or ties can cause a baby to become tangled or to strangle.
• Children can use bumper pads to climb out of their crib once they are able to pull themselves up into a standing position. They could fall from the crib and be seriously hurt.

According to the study, 23 crib bumper deaths were reported to the CPSC  from 2006 through 2012 — that is three times than the average of eight deaths reported in each of the three previous seven-year time spans.

There are no federal regulations in the U.S. regarding crib bumpers. In 2012, a voluntary industry standard was revised to improve crib-bumper safety by limiting the items’ thickness. The study was published in the Journal of Pediatrics.