When to take off crib bumpers?

[Ashley1021]

Hi! First time mom here.. Lol.
When is it recommended to take off crib bumpers? LO is 8.5 months old and he woke up from his nap today, and to my surprise he had part of his bumper pulled down so it was bunched up. He has mesh breathable ones, but when should I take them off? He is such a wild sleeper that I'm sure his limbs would be getting stuck and lead to more waking up.. He already wakes up enough as it is!

 

[Tigerlily01]

If he's pulling them off I'd take them off now. At 8.5 months I'm guessing your son is mobile enough he could move if he got a limb through anyway, and you don't want him trying to stand on them. (If he's not pulling up yet, he will be soon!)

We never used bumpers...our son only got a limb through the bars once or twice, and never needed help getting free, but he's also pretty laid back, so it didn't freak him out. I can imagine with a less laid back baby it might be more of an issue, though.

 

[Ashley1021]

I was thinking the same. He hasn't started pulling up yet but I'm going to take them off tomorrow morning. He is not laid back whatsoever, so I'm sure he's gonna freak out and I'll be getting even less sleep! Lol

 

[SurpriseBub]

I think the advice is not to use them at all. especially if he is pulling on them etc, I would think taking them off asap is the way to go.

Our baby is much younger, but moves around the crib quite a lot. She has gotten her feet out a couple of times, but has never gotten stuck or hurt/distressed at all

 

[justplay91]

Well I can tell you that my son at 9.5 months would now be using them as a way to climb up and out of his crib! He's never had bumpers, but even without them and with his crib being as low as it can go, I'm already worrying that he'll soon be able to climb out. Babies are like monkeys.

 

[AK89]

I'm dead against bumpers but my OH wanted to buy one of the mesh ones that you're talking about so he did, and we used it (and still would now if she was still in her cot but we're cosleeping) and it's definitely not the type of material that LO would be able to climb up on top of. It just collapses under any sort of pressure. I think we've got it on quite loose too, 'cause it's meant to fit a cotbed and we had it on her crib, so maybe yours isn't on quite as loose and your LO would be able to climb on it..? I'm not sure.. I just know that no baby would be able to climb up on mine! So I'd definitely still be using mine by now if we weren't cosleeping as my LO is a real live wire and she definitely would have broken a limb getting it stuck between the bars by now if we didn't!

 

[Tigerlily01]

...it's definitely not the type of material that LO would be able to climb up on top of. It just collapses under any sort of pressure.

Makes sense, but I might worry that a leg would get stuck between the bumper and the crib if he 'tried' to step on it? But I've never used them, so who knows.

 

[TTC First]

In Canada they advise not using any sort of bumpers at any age, so I would say that it is very safe to remove them. I am a foster parent for infants so I have had many infants a wide variety of ages over the years. None of the babies have had any issues not having the bumpers. Sometimes a leg or arm gets though the bars but they tend to get them out fine.

 

[MindUtopia]

I would definitely take them off. We never used them and my daughter never once got an arm or a leg caught anywhere. But definitely if he can pull them off in any way they become a strangulation hazard, so I'd just get rid of them.

 

[x__amour]

If it's a thick, padded bumper it is recommended that it should not be used at all. (Suffocation hazard.)
We have a breathable bumper that DS (13mo) still uses.

 

[Ashley1021]

Yeah it's a mesh breathable one. I'm thinking I'll take it off, just to be safe!

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

I took them off as soon as she showed signs of pulling herself up. Didn't have any issues with her legs until after 12 months, when she started to try to "climb" out of the crib, and kept getting her leg wedged between the bars.

 

[hanni]

I'd take them off ASAP. Any kind of bumpers can be a strangulation risk. Glad you've decided to

 

[bdb84]

I used them with DS and never had an issue with them, but I chose not to with both of my daughters. I'd remove them

 

[AK89]

Ooooops double post

 

[AK89]

The mesh one I've got (can't remember what it's called) is perfectly safe. It collapses under any sort of pressure so couldn't possibly be used to climb up on. And so far as I know (OH fitted it!) it doesn't have any strings or anything that could be a strangling risk. Also I just put my DD in her cot while I was doing something in her room (we cosleep so she's barely ever in there - AND her bumper is on her crib atm, not her big cot) and almost immediately she flipped over and got her leg stuck between the bars and started flailing about lol. She's so wriggly and strong, she could easily do herself a fair bit of damage if left alone. Obviously every baby is different though But I definitely don't have any safety concerns about my bumper.