AAP: No Bumpers in Cribs to Reduce Risk of SIDS

In expanded safe sleep guidelines, the American Academy of Pediatrics is now telling parents to stop using crib bumpers to reduce the risk of suffocation. Although anti-bumper sentiment has been growing for some time, and the city of Chicago has even banned the sale of them, this is the first time the AAP has made an official recommendation against them. Read the full news story on the AAP’s announcement.
Plus: Our Complete Guide to SIDS

Since the AAP starting recommending in 1992 that babies always be put to sleep on their backs, deaths from SIDS dramatically decreased initially, but have plateaued in recent years. At the same time, deaths from other causes, including suffocation, entrapment and asphyxia, have increased. Although those deaths are technically not SIDS, since SIDS can only be ruled as the cause of death when all other possibilities have been eliminated, the AAP is hoping parents will refrain from using bumpers to reduce the risk of all sleep-related deaths in babies.
Plus: Study Shows SIDS Spikes on New Year’s Day

Read the full story to find out why the AAP thinks bumpers are potentially dangerous for infants, and what other new safe sleep recommendations they’re making.

Did you use a crib bumper in your nursery? Would you use one now?