Infant deaths from crib bumpers are rising

A further 146 babies were involved in incidents in which the youngsters almost suffocated, choked or were strangled.

Professor Thach called for an all-out ban on the products.

Writing on Facebook 10 days ago Lisa said: “When we bought Preston’s cot bumper we had no idea how risky they really were, we thought we were buying something that would protect him and keep him safe as he slept instead it took his life while he slept”.

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) advises that cot bumpers are not necessary, but if they are used they should be removed when a baby is old enough to sit unaided and use them to climb out of the cot.

Dr. Thach and colleagues note that the AAP, the Canadian Pediatric Society, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have all recommended against using crib bumpers.

Thach and his fellow researchers – lead author N.J. Scheers, PhD, former manager of CPSC’s Infant Suffocation Project, and Dean W. Woodard, former CPSC corrective actions director – determined that 32 of the 48 deaths they examined could have been prevented if crib bumpers had not been used in the cribs. After combining this information with the data from CPSC, the researchers found that the number of fatalities linked to the use of cribs in recent years was 77. The federal government does not regulate crib bumpers, but in 2012, the industry voluntarily revised bumper designs to limit their thickness. Had the bumpers not been in the cribs, the researchers maintain, the babies would not have been wedged into such positions and would have survived.

Some babies could swallow the ties of the bumper, Thach said.

There are no federal regulations regarding crib bumpers. In other cases, ties, stuffing or other decorative elements came loose, causing choking or strangulation.

Items that should not be in the crib include quilts, comforters, bumper pads, stuffed animals, pillows and other pillow-like items. That latter retail chain now features National Basketball Association star Stephen Curry and his pregnant wife, Ayesha, on its website to market a high-end crib decorated with white bumpers and a pillow.

“It’s a problem that’s been a matter of discussion for some time now”, Thach said. “The infant deaths we studied could have been prevented if the cribs were empty”.

Maruyama said in 1985 she found her son unresponsive with his head and mouth up against a crib bumper.

Since 1973, crib manufacturers are required to make the space between slats narrow enough to prevent a baby’s head from going through, making bumpers unnecessary.

Chicago and Maryland are the only places in the nation to now forbid their sale. It could be that states and doctors are reporting more of the deaths, or more infants are dying, they write.

Despite the warnings against their use, the study authors say crib bumpers remain a popular purchase among parents.

As a result of their findings, the researchers recommend that the CPSC ban the sale of crib bumpers.

One state (Maryland) and one city (Chicago) have banned the sale of crib bumpers, but they are readily available online.