Crib Bumpers Deaths Increase, Study Recommends Ban

A recent study has found that the increasing number of infant deaths have been linked to what was made to support them: crib bumpers.

These crib bumpers are padded blankets or pillow-like walls that are placed in baby's cribs for the purpose of preventing limbs from getting stuck between the crib's slats, as well as protecting their limbs from slamming into the crib's hard bars. Because of the study's findings, doctors' groups are now recommending against its use.

The study, which is published in the journal Pediatrics, found that in the seven-year period between 2006 and 2012, 23 infant deaths that were reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) were caused by crib bumpers.

"Crib bumpers are killing kids," Dr. Bradley T. Thach, the study's author and a professor emeritus of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in a statement.

"The infant deaths we studied could have been prevented if the cribs were empty,” he added.

For the new study, Thach and his colleagues analyzed CPSC data between years 1985 and 2012. They found that the infants that died ranged from one to 22 months old, while the average age was at five months.

Of the deaths, about 67 percent were caused by crib bumpers. Other reasons for death were infants getting wedged between bumpers and other objects, such as pillows, or even getting wedged into the bumper by another child.

"They get their face pressed into the bumper and then they don’t get adequate oxygen," Thach said.

Three seven-year periods, starting from 1985, reported only an average of eight bumper-caused infant deaths. However, the number increased to 23 between 2006 -2012. The researchers aren't able to explain why the deaths increased, but noted that it could be due to more doctors reporting, or infants just dying.

"I don’t know if it's that people are more aware and they're reporting more, but it could be an actual increase," said Thach.

The researchers also noted that, despite these information, crib bumpers are still popular among expecting parents who see the products in various avenues such as catalogues, magazines, and baby stores.

"When they go into a baby store to buy a crib, they see all cribs lined with bumpers, and that sends a false signal that if they are selling them, they must be safe," Thach said.

The only probable solution to the dangers that crib bumpers pose, according to the researchers, is a nationwide ban on selling the bumpers in the country.