Safe cot bumper for newborn?

[Walnut8]

Can anyone give me a recommendation for a safe cot bumper? I have seen a few that tie to the corners and look sort of saggy. They fold into the cot and don't look particularly safe for a newborn IYSWIM? I've read that getting a breathable one is best but I haven't really seen any good ones. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

[MummyTumble]

I;ve never used one and don;t see the point.

They look like a hazard waiting to happen and am always surprised at all the baby shops selling them.

Perhaps i'm just a worrier

[MumNWLondon]

not really sure why anyone would want a cot bumper??? i would never use one, both of my DC even as newborns have managed to creep up the cot and could easily have got caught in it or even if breathable over heated because their heads were against it.

In the end had to use bigger grow bag and tuck the bottom of grow bag under cot mattress!

[MummyTumble]

Perhaps a Crap and dangerous marketing ploy to get more money out of us??

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

Why would you need one if babies are meant to sleep in the feet-to-foot position?

[skidoodle]

Would not use.

[CaptainUnderpants]

Its been a while since mine were in cots (9 & 7yrs) but I though cot bumpers were a No No.

We never had them.

[Walnut8]

Okay thank you! I was told that they were a good idea if placing a newborn straight in a cot as it stops them from poking their heads/limbs through the bars when they were little (under six months) and/or falling through, getting stuck. This was from a salesperson though ...??

[Ktay]

Have you come across airwrap in the course of your research? We have it round DD's cot as she was constantly wriggling around and getting her limbs caught through the bars. It seems to do the trick, is made from lightweight breathable mesh and is supposed to ping down if babies try standing on it. NB FWIW she didn't move into a cot until 5 months so can't comment on how mobile she was from newborn (was fairly confined in a hammock).

[MrsJamin]

much more dangerous for a newborn to come up against a cot bumper than to the cot bars. and very unlikely that they would be able to move enough from a feet to foot position towards the sides of a cot in order to get stuck. Very few baby products are actually necessary - remember that! start with the absolute essentials and you'll realise what you actually need to buy.

[sarahsyrup]

no I wouldn't bother with a bumper at all. Advantages of not having one are you can see how the baby is lying etc from a distance (ie: when you peek in on them when you're trying to get them in a sleeping routine) If you've got a bumper, you'd have to walk right up to the cot and look in. It creates a sort of bucket effect. I think they're for decoration only to be honest.

[MumNWLondon]

As I said earlier my DD was a creeper - we started off with sheets and blankets and she worked her way up the cot, from literally weeks old until her head reached the cot. She'd then scream as she was cold (it was November/December) - we bought grobags which made it harder for her to move but when she started move up the cot again we secured her with a bigger grobag that we tucked under the matttess.

I agree with MrsJamin, more dangerous for newborn to come up against a cot bumper than a cot.

[hester]

I honestly wouldn't get one. They're an unnecessary risk.

[Walnut8]

Thanks everyone. You've talked me out of it!

[flyingcloud]

I don't like the idea of one, but here in France they are de rigeur and that without we've been told we will end up with the baby getting itself stuck somehow in the cot bars.

DH thinks I am mad as I now want to take ours down.

[Spirael]

I've been pondering over whether to get a bumper for the cot. I've found a really cute one that matches with the nursery theme I'm going for and some of my relatives are looking for inexpensive/cute objects like that to buy for the LO. However, after reading all this I'm starting to think that maybe it's best to scratch that potential gift off the list!

I'm a first timer, so please humour me a little here... I appreciate there is a danger of the bumper somehow falling onto the child and suffocating it when it's a newborn. However, I'm planning for the LO to be in a moses basket in the master bedroom for the first few months, then move into the cot in the nursery when it's a little older.

How much do babies move around when they're about 3/4 months old? Are they likely to pull the tied bumper onto themselves somehow, and if they manage that do they not have the strength/coordination to throw it off again? Or do they roll over and wedge themselves into the corner, unable to turn back?

Or is there a bigger risk of them squirming around and wedging themselves through the bars somehow? Or do they flail and are likely to damage themselves hitting solid bars? Or, does the danger from that age become that eventually they will learn to drag themselves up using the bumper and use it to make a bid for freedom-!

I've never spent any time around infants, so this is all a major learning experience for DH and I. There haven't been any kids born in my family for decades, and I seem to be the first in my friendship group to be having a baby. But, well... They say the best way to learn is to do-!

[hester]

Spirael, plenty of babies have cot bumpers and the vast majority come to no harm at all. However, there is some risk (from getting their face into it and also contributing to overheating, I think) and the advice from FSID is that this is definitely more of a risk than getting stuck into bars. I would think it highly unlikely a baby would seriously hurt themselves from hitting the bars or getting stuck in them.

Once you're learning on the job you'll decide for yourself what risks seem acceptable to you - none of us can provide a completely safe environment for our babies. However, given the official advice is to avoid cot bumpers, I'd avoid cot bumpers.

By the way, you may be surprised how early you move baby into the cot - moses baskets aren't big enough for long!

Oh, and don't worry about the - becoming a parent is a huge learning curve for ALL of us! I'd done loads and loads of caring for various nieces, nephews and godchildren, and I still felt a complete idiot when faced with my own to take care of. That feeling doesn't altogether go away with your first, because they're always moving on to a new stage that you've never experienced before!

[MrsJamin]

Part of the reason why cot bumpers are bad news is that they limit the air circulation around the cot - it's best to just have the bars around the baby as then the air can move freely in and out of the cot.

[redtabby]

I use a breathable bumper I bought from the States, which is the same as the Airwrap noted above. It seems more cosy in this cold winter somehow, rather than just the bare bars, but there is also air flow and he could breathe if he came up against it.

[TheBossofMe]

I thought that there was no evidence to support the cot death - cot bumper association. This is a quote from the FSID site:

"A further 32% wrongly identified cot bumpers as a risk, but research has shown that they have neither good nor bad effects in terms of cot death risk"

[redtabby]

This is a link to the type of bumper I use:

www.babyenterprise.com/Cot%20Bumper%20-%20Airwrap%20Mesh%20Cot%20Bumper.htm

[MummyTumble]

I think when they're older too, the babies/toddler can use them to stand on and climb/fall out of the cot too.....

[Coldhands]

I haven't read all the replies so sorry if this is a repeat but they are not recommended for babies under a year old. Babies have actually died getting caught up and suffocating (sorry to be morbid) but I wouldn't want it to happen to anyone! When they are that small they don't roll around anyway, so they are completely unnescessary.