Before my son was born, my husband and I spent hours picking out the perfect crib set. Was the blanket soft enough? Would our son like to look at the pictures on the bumpers? It turns out that the answers to these questions didn't matter as the only item we actually use from the set is the dust ruffle.
When my son was 4 months old, my husband and I moved him from his bassinet into his crib. The crib, with all the cute bedding and bumpers, had been set up for months and we were very excited to see how he would like his new bed. Before putting him in, we removed the super soft blanket that we had spent hours picking out. This was an easy decision - we knew that babies should not sleep with blankets and our son in particular has always been a big roller. Without exaggeration, he rolls all night!
Removing the cute bumpers with all of the jungle creatures on them, however, was not such an easy decision. As I said, my son rolls a lot. At 4 months, Oliver had a preferred side to which he rolled - to the left - and would attempt to continue to roll that way even if there was a barrier in the way (like a wall). At the same time, when Oliver wasn't rolling at night, he liked to snuggle himself into the side of his bassinet, which is a suffocation risk. So, after weighing the pros and cons, we decided against bumpers. This decision lasted approximately 1 week, during which time I would get up in the middle of the night numerous times after hearing *boom* followed by screaming. The boom sound was Oliver's head banging against the side of the crib each time when he reached the end of the crib, tried unsuccessfully to continue to roll, and bumped his head on the side of the crib with each attempt. After a week of awful head-banging, we decided to reinstall the bumpers...for one week, when I read a horrible story about bumpers and SIDS. What was a parent to do???
The solution: Breathable Crib Bumpers! We found these at Babies 'R' Us but you can also get them online at:
www.breathablebaby.com/. Breathable bumpers are mesh - but not really thin mesh, which wouldn't provide much protection against head bumps. I am so happy that we found this product. I no longer have to worry about the risk of suffocation and my little boy's head is protected as he rolls the night away!
