My little one pulled up for the first time! I came into his room to get him yesterday morning and there he was, standing there just as proud of himself as could be. Following advice, I took out his bumpers and plan on moving the mattress to a lower level today. My problem is that so far (1 night and 2 naps) he has scooted around and gotten his chubby little leg caught between the rails! I'm debating just lowering the mattress so he can't pull up and then putting the bumpers back in. I'm a huge worrywart (if you can't tell from my previous posts) so going against any safety advice makes me nervous, but it seems to me that getting his leg stuck is a bigger risk than him climbing over the rails if he can't reach high enough to pull up anymore. Anyone have any advice or suggestions?
Edit: My worry isn't that he'll suffocate, we passed that once he started moving around. The info that came with the bumpers was to remove them when they can sit up on their own or pull up because they can use the bumper as a step and pitch over the top of the railings.
Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to order some of the breathable bumpers, his leg has really gotten wedged to where it's impossible for him to get it back out. Hopefully we'll both sleep better with these!
If he can pull up the crib should be at the bottom no matter what. As for him being able to fall out, I think it depends mostly on his height. The bumpers only increase his height. I never used bumpers becasue of the SIDS risk, and I don't see why have the fall risk if it can be avoided. Frankly, who cares if his leg gets stuck. He will pull it out or cry for help or learn not to do it..
Lower the mattress and leave the bumpers in. I raised four kids with
bumpers in the crib and it was never a problem. Even if he stood on bumper
he would compress it. So he would not make it over because of the bumper. If he just pulled himself up he cannot be more than 8-9 months.
He is not going anywhere. I always lowered the crib as soon as they
could sit. So by six months, that mattress was all the way down.
Once the bumpers game off for my children I always found them asleep with their legs hanging out of the side of the crib. Neither one has gotten stuck or hurt by doing so.
Most of us survived without carseats, seatbelts, with lead paint and eating dirt. To me alot of the "safety" concerns are all put out so we buy the next best thing safety wise for our children.
With all 3 we didn't take the bumpers out until they moved out of the crib. Even then we had siderails on the bed which they put a bunch of stuffed animals along. The bumpers crushed down before they could use them to climb out. They also only did it like one time each with a stern "No" and they didn't do it again. All 3 of mine like touching it and they have become something of a security object.
The bumper does not make that much of a difference to them being able to climb out or not. If they're going to do it they can still do it without the bumper just as easily.
look into the crib tent. Its mesh and keeps little appendages from getting stuck. Also, down the line, it will keep your little one from climbing out.
our little one was really wriggly, before we put the crib tent in, we thought the bumper should keep his legs from getting stuck. He must have been doing chorus line rockette style kicks, because he'd hoist his leg over the bumper and get stuck between the rails.
You can choose to use or go without a bumper if you use a crib tent.
good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
I think you are past the main worry of the bumpers if he is pulling up. The main worry I believe is when he starts rolling over - which was probably back a few months. If he can pull himself up, he is probably fine with the bumpers. Definitely lower the mattress though. I have a 1 and 3yr old. Never took the bumper off. They have always slept with tons of blankets, pillows and stuffed animals.
the bumper debate is a big deal. The new thought is that even the breathable bumpers should not be used, some places legally can not sell crib bumpers anymore.
That being said I threaded mine between the slats and then tied the ties, even if my son got it untied he couldn't have gotten tangled in it. just today i finally took it out, he's been pulling up for awhile now, but with the crib on the lowest setting even if he did stand on the bumper he wasn't gonna topple out of the crib. My actual reason for removing it was that lately he's been leaking from his nighttime diaper and I'm 7 months pregnant, so in order to change his sheets I have to remove the mattress. It's a pain to get it back in with the bumper at 2 am in the dark.
I think they make the bumper pads with a net now, maybe One step ahead", but lowering the mattress to lowest level is good. We have twin boys grandsons and they are 18 months, on still has them for this reason and the other one doesn't...good luck..
Buy him a breathable bumper, They will help with the leg/arm getting stuck issue but they will collapse if he tries to stand on it for leverage.
My chubby boy got his legs stuck too! After a couple of times, he figured it out, but the breathable bumpers sound great!
Yeah, put the bumpers back in or replace them with something that prevents him from getting his little legs stuck. You'll most likely have to revisit the issue later, but at least right now while he's so young, he won't break his leg!
Dawn
The American Academy of Pediatrics says NO to bumpers. He won't hurt his leg, with it getting stuck.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/18/health/no-bumpers-cribs-sid...
Breathable bumpers are generally thought of as more safe, but not a whole lot of research has gone into that. (I was very vague with my first answer, so I updated to be more specific!)
I would leave the bumper out. He can still hurt himself. I walked into my daughter's room one morning and she had loosened the string and had the bumper sitting around her neck with her head between the bumper and the crib.
Is the crib and older crib? Usually once they can stand, they're legs are too big to fit through the slots
I just re-tied my bumpers with a SECURE knot that floated loosely on the crib slats, so that if the bumper was stepped on, it would compress right down. In that way, it did not become any kind of step.
