to think that 'banning' cot bumpers is a bit OTT

[gotnotimeforthat]

I recently saw a facebook page with a petition to ban cot bumpers because sadly a 9 month old died after suffacating by the cot bumper wrapped around his neck. I can't even begin to imagine what the parents must be going through but still i can't help but think that the petition is OTT.

This is because:

1. with double knots i struggle to get the bumper of the cot myself, it took me 15 minutes to take it off this morning so i could wash it. I check every night that it is secure.
   
   
2. I personally use a bumper because i don't want my DS to put his arms through the bars, if he grabs hold of something he wll pull at it until he reahes at it so he can stick it in his mouth, he then slings his head forward over and over ( he's breastfed so he does this to me a lot too, he's saying he's hungry) I would prefer my baby not to be headbutting the wooden bars of the cot. with a bumper he has nothing to grab onto.
   
   
3. I think blankets have a higher death rate but as far as i am aware there is no petition to ban those.
   
   So AIBU?

[petswinprizes]

YABU. It's your choice to put dangerous things in your cot with your baby. Maybe after reading this one person takes the bumper out of their cot and prevents a death. YABU to try and prevent people warning others about a very real danger.

[iwantgin]

There were warnings about this 17 years ago when I had DS.

So it isn't new news.

I didn't use them - and Ds slept fine - didn't get his arms stuck through the bars, didn't get cold.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Tbh. Who the hell picks this as an AIBU?

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Yes yabu
And insensitive.

[sashh]

I just had a look at the facebook page, this thread is adding to the hurt of the family concerned and is not useful if it just complains about their campaign.

There does need to be a conversation about things like bumpers. Personally I do not think banning something because a child has died works, simply because someone will be along inventing something else dangerous.

It doesn't matter whether it is a blind cord, bumpers, a duffle bag - it is the same, it is tragic, it is something that should not happen.

Raising awareness of what you should not put in a cot (anything that is not the baby, mattress and bedding) or in reach of a child, is the most useful thing to parents.

Getting parents (and other carers) to see danger or possible danger in any object is what needs to happen.

[ajones89]

I sleep much better knowing my child hasn't got one of those useless, dangerous pieces of crap in his bed. I would much rather wake up to comfort him if he had a banged head, or his arm/leg was stuck, or just couldn't sleep to find him lifeless the next morning. I can't actually believe that some people still use them.

[differentnameforthis]

Cars haven't killed babies. Careless drivers have killed babies.

[trufflesnout]

it should of been tied tighter and that particular situation could of been avoided

Jesus I really hope you just worded that sentence badly and didn't really mean what it implies

[jellybelly701]

I used a bumper up until DS could sit up. checked the ties every night etc. He liked to feel enclosed, he hated looking the through the bars and would refuse to settle to sleep. but he was fine with the bumper as he could as he felt enclosed. I understand there is a risk but I don't think it's a very big one in terms of likeliness to happen and to me they were a godsend it took me three nights of zero sleep and plenty of crying to work out why he was upset. there are so many things that carry a risk, I wont live in fear of them all.

Products like these that carry risk should come with proper labelling, so you know how to minimise the risk. I also think all bumpers should have ties on the top and bottom of the bumper instead of just the top like the one that came in a bedding set I bought for my niece.

[minipie]

There are a number of things which increase SIDS risk but which I have chosen to ignore and do anyway - because my child sleeps better and I have decided that that outweighs the (statistically very small) increase in the risk of SIDS. For example my child will not sleep at 18 degrees so her room is at 21. When she was tiny she would not sleep on her back so we put her on her side.

I chose to take the risk of doing these things rather than make her uncomfortable and more likely to wake. Same applies to cot bumpers. yes there may be (statistically rare) risks attached but without them, she bashed her head and sometimes woke up. I decided the very small risk of SIDS was outweighed by the very high risk of her hurting her head.

IMO this is no different to parents who, for example, choose to take an unnecessary car journey to go and do something fun. There is risk involved in taking that car journey. The journey is not necessary, the parents could stay at home, but they decide that the benefit from the trip is worth the small extra risk. Parents ought to be free to make that decision I think.

[SoonToBeSix]

Yabu they are very dangerous and pointless.

[Purplepoodle]

As mw said to me - a child has never died from banging their head on a cot bar but children have been suffocated by cot bumpers.

I used a travel cot with my later children as they were head bangers

[Locketjuice]

Really?!

You should be aware prestons family have seen this, you should really think about what you post.

They are dangerous. If you choose to put your child at risk so be it, but don't beat down a mother who has had to deal with such an awful tragedy just because you use one despite the proof they are,as stated by the FB page, dangerous and useless!

[Igggi]

Very sorry for your loss

[NadineK]

This post is about my grandson. He died when he was nine months old. His mummy and daddy began a facebook campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of cot bumpers.
Preston died when the ties on his bumper SNAPPED. The ties were still very securely tied to his cot, the bumper itself was around his neck. It doesn't matter how well tied on the bumper is, it can still take a life.
I also know the grandmother of a baby in America who suffocated against his bumper. That too was tied on properly and tucked in well.
These aren't one off cases. Lots of babies have died, and families been devastated, because of bumpers. That's why they are already banned in Chicago and Maryland and a ban is currently going through in Illinois.
Bumpers can and do kill.

[Andcake]

Preston's story is heartbreaking. I had read not recommended after 6 months and he was 9 months plus. A ban would be good but proper warning and labelling ( as I don't think a ban is realistic knowing the commercial world) and knowing many people just don't research things properly!

[eskinosekiss]

wheresthelight gotnotimeforthat I didn't say 'lots of posters', I said 'some posters'

And there are 4 posters on this thread who have said they have used a bumper because its pretty/they put it on and went aaah/they have it at the foot of the cot 'just for decor'/chose one brand rather than another because it looked 'cooler'.

So not one person.

[Woobeedoo]

You can buy Airwrap from Amazon, John Lewis and Kiddicare which is where I got mine.

Before I fitted them I bunched up the whole wrap, put it over my face and nose and inhaled gently - no problems breathing through the mesh at all.

The Velcro means you can pull the wrap really snuggly round the cot bars - bumpers with ties may not line up with the spacings of all cot bars.

[maddening]

Just re the "no one knows what causes sids" surely the cause in each case is different - it's not a disease it is an end result which cannot be explained - so there may be many different causes and when studied certain factors increase risk.

eg using a second hand mattress is thought to increase fumes and spores from unseen fungus and bacteria then breathed in by a dc

But th

[wiltingfast]

Ah OP, cars obviously have very serious benefits to them, I don't know if you've noticed? They get you from a to b in a hurry? Plus, there are a lot of rules and regulations about how you use a car? Not really comparable imo.

A cot bumper on the other hand is completely useless decorative item. I know you feel you are stopping your child bumping his head or getting stuck in the bars but really, those are very minor events and I would think it likely your child will adapt.

I don't know anything about the airwrap bumper but it does sound like it might be a good alternative.

[TillyTellTale]

wheresthelight

We now know that cigarettes cause lung cancer. We know this because Sir Reginald Hill discovered the correlation between smoking tobacco and lung cancer. Then, scientists worked out how.

[dontriskit]

Accidental deaths like these are often ruled as SIDS or Like Prestons Sudden unexplained death syndrome.

Because despite the death scene being investigated and the fact the baby was pressed up againgst the bumper or found with it wrapped around the neck.
unless the coroner can prove through tissue samples and blood that the co2 levels where high and or there was tissue damage to the trachea cutting off oxygen they have nothing concrete.
Preston had an abrasion mark on his neck enough to restrict oxygen and cause a rise in co2 cause central nervous shut down until breathing ceased. But not at a dangerously high abnormal level for toxicology to prove that as the cause. So sudden unexplained death syndrome was the ruling.

[LeonardWentToTheOffice]

Ds was always getting his arms stuck in his bars and used a bumper I'd been given until health visitor visited and told me they were not recommended. I whippped it off there and then. There are a lot of things made for babies: bumpers, baby pillows, baby duvets, walkers etc which parents sometimes get without thinking. I would not use any of these.

[dontriskit]

The bumper was not attached a second time!
Preston was found dead with the bumper wrapped around his neck twice.
The ties were still knotted tightly on the cot.

The bumper now completely seperated from the ties
became a long strip of fabric that twisted like a rope.

The ties were on the cot so tight that they had to be cut off to remove them. Not at the time of death but when mummy and daddy were clearing out the cot days later.

The bumper was tied correctly and so tight infact that when he got caught in it ripped the ties off.

If you read before your mouth got into gear you would have seen its been repeated several times.

[Damnautocorrect]

My ds wouldn't sleep without cot bumpers. I was aware of the risks but made the decision and took precautions.