Pediatrics Group Warns Against Crib Bumpers

On Tuesday, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that parents stop using all bumper pads in cribs because of the risk to infants, according to an article in USA Today. “There is no evidence that bumper pads prevent injuries, and there is a potential risk of suffocation, strangulation or entrapment,” the organization stated in a press release, revising its previous warnings only against pillow-like versions of bumpers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission determined bumpers were involved in 52 infant deaths from 1990 to May 2010, although the organization acknowledges the bumpers specifically weren’t always to blame.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association is instead seeking a voluntary standard for a maximum thickness for traditional bumpers, pointing out that $50 million worth of infant bedding sets that include bumpers are sold each year, along with more than 200,000 bumper pad sets. But some local governments are already moving toward restrictions, including Chicago, where the sale of all bumpers was banned, and Maryland, where health officials proposed a statewide ban.