Cot bumper for a 12 month old?

[newmamabear4]

Looking for opinions on this one… LO is nearly 14 months old and sleeps brilliantly in his cot, he has a breathable mesh bumper either side of his cot that secures with Velcro to prevent him knocking or throwing his dummy out during the night. Other half wants to change this to a full padded bumper as he is concerned about him knocking his head. He is a wriggler in his sleep and we do often wake up from the thud of him rolling and banging his head on the bars. Might be worth noting that our headboard is against the wall LO’s cot is against next door hence why we hear it. I’ve read conflicting views on bumper and I know the NHS don’t recommend them. What should be our bigger concern, the potential danger of a cot bumper or him bumping his head?

Please don't use a full cot bumper. Read about Justice for Preston to fully appreciate the dangers.

A bumped head is a lot better than the risks associated with a cot bumper.
I wouldn’t even have a mesh one. They can come loose and risk strangulation. The padded ones can be a suffocation and overheating risk too.

If baby hit his head hard enough be would wake up. Trust the nhs and the lullaby trust.

@MrsWidgerysLodger @Danikm151 thank you both. I think I’ll be telling hubby to get the idea out of his head. I totally agree that LO would wake up if he was hurting himself. Maybe just it sounds worse through the wall than it actually is. Thanks again both.

Baby isn’t going to bump their head in the cot hard enough to cause any harm. Its just not a thing but even if it were, the safe solution would be a travel cot which has breathable fabric aided. There’s never a good reason to use potentially lethal cot bumpers, not even the mesh ones which are still a strangulation risk. As for the dummy, just chuck a load in the cot at bedtime and baby will always be able to find one overnight.

No way.

When they bang their head on the cot it sounds much worse than it is. LO would absolutely wake up and cry if it actually hurt! Don't use bumpers (as well as the strangulation and suffocation risks, the padded ones can also make it easier for them to climb over the top of the bars and fall out)

Once they start moving they're always smacking into something so what's the difference?! 12mo DD has an absolute cracking bruise on her forehead from some speed crawling gone wrong the other day. I'd rather have a baby thumping into the cot sides than risking a cot bumper.

I wouldn’t have any kind of bumper, mesh or otherwise, I really don’t know why they’re still on sale. If he’s not even waking when he bumps his head he’s fine, if it becomes a real issue then as PP said the solution is a travel cot with mesh sides xx

It's not worth the risk imo

No never use a bumper

Our bumper from IKEA has a base (it's like a big tray type thing that goes under the mattress) so not a strangulation risk. DC would get their legs completely stuck in the bars of the cot and was screaming us awake every 45min without it. Wouldn't a have used with a tiny baby but for an active one year old... well it saved my sanity anyway!