Opening The Can...

I am 100% sure that this is going to piss a lot of people off. But this is something I think is kind of ridiculous.

Let me start off by saying this:

I am in complete support of doing things that will keep our children safe. SIDS is a horrible tragedy hat still keeps me up some nights. A friend of the family lost their 4 month old daughter to SIDS when I was younger and it was devastating. It is also terrible for those who have lost a child for any other reason. The loss of a child is something you can never fully recover from. I am not being insensitive to those who have lost a child, my heart breaks for you.

Chicago Outlaws Crib Bumper Pads, Citing Safety Concerns

SIDS is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history. (Willinger et al, 1991). Source

There is no known cause for SIDS. There are measures you can take to have the safest environment for your child but there really isn't anything you can do to prevent it. That is why they deem it "unexplained death". Now I have my own view on SIDS and prevention but this isn't the time or post for that.

If a child dies from suffocation due to a bumper pad then there is a cause: SUFFOCATION.

Should you put bumpers in your child's crib...maybe, maybe not. But I believe that is a choice that belongs to the parents. Should you have pillow-like bumpers with 1,000 stuffed animals in the crib? Uh, no. But that's just common sense.

When I was expecting we took an infant care class that talked all about the safety precautions when it came to having a newborn, we knew the safety concerns that came along with bumper pads. It says it right on the box! My daughter has had a bumper in her crib since day 1, she slept in a bassinet in our room until she was 2 months old and when we moved her to her crib we would lay her in the middle of her crib away from the sides, and sure enough she would be in the same spot in the morning. Did this keep me from worrying about her; no, it is my job to worry. Now that she is bigger we have the bumpers in her crib because she sleeps with her head in the corner of her crib and the hard wooden slats would definitely leave marks if we didn't have them there. But she is also big enough to turn her head if something is obstructing her airway. She has a handmade crib from her grandpa and the bumpers are pushed down in between her mattress and crib so there isn't excess she could get caught in.

A quote from this article states:

 "Nancy Maruyama, of SIDS of Illinois, pointed out that parents see bumper pads in stores, and think “if (stores) sell it, it must be safe,”"

They sell a lot of things in stores that aren't "safe", cigarettes, alcohol, guns, knives, processed foods, etc. but as a consumer we have the responsibility to make our own decisions about what we will purchase. I believe that it is NOT the governments job or right to start mandating how we decorate our child's nursery. The government has their hands in enough aspects of our lives, where will it end? Give them an inch and they are going to take a mile.

Bottom line:
This is not a matter of whether bumper pads are safe or not, it's a matter of the government making yet ANOTHER decision for you.

Should you put bumpers in your baby's crib? That's up to you.

Should the government be putting their hand in this?

DEFINITELY NOT.