Crib or bassinet bumper pads, which are intended to protect infants from injuring themselves on sharp edges, can actually be dangerous, finds a new study conducted by pediatric researchers at Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo.

The findings are published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.

Researchers discovered that there were 27 accidental baby deaths caused by strangulation or suffocation caused by bumper pads or their ties. They advocate a bumper pad-free crib.
(CBC)

Researchers reviewed three U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission databases, tracking deaths and injuries sustained by babies due to crib bumpers over a 20-year period between 1985 and 2005.

They discovered that there were 27 accidental deaths reported by health authorities of children between one month and two years old. These deaths were caused by strangulation or suffocation caused by bumpers or their ties. There were also 35 crib bumper-related non-fatal injuries.

"Many infants lack the motor development needed to free themselves when they become wedged between the bumper pad and another surface," said Bradley Thach, professor of pediatrics and staff physician at St. Louis Children's Hospital, in a release. "They are likely to suffocate because they are re-breathing expired air or their nose and mouth are compressed."

"If the pads are too soft, the baby's nose or face can get pressed up against it, and the baby suffocates," he said. "If they are too firm, the baby can climb up on the pads and fall out of the crib."

In the study, researchers studied 22 retail crib bumpers, looking for potentially dangerous features such as excessive softness, a space between the bottom of the bumper pad and mattress, the width of the pads and the length of the ties that attach the bumpers to the crib slats.

All of the bumper pads were found to be hazardous because they left a space between the bottom of the bumper pad and mattress, an area in which an infant's head could become lodged.

The researchers suggest parents forgo bumpers in cribs and bassinets. "Our data does not suggest any way in which changes in bumper design can reduce risk of death. We conclude that bumpers should not be placed in cribs or bassinets," says the report.

Health Canada does not recommend the use of bumper pads in cribs because they pose an entanglement, entrapment, strangulation, and suffocation risk.

It issued the advisory two years ago after 23 incidents involving bumper pads were reported between 1987 and 2001, including one strangulation death, one suffocation death, and three near-suffocation occurrences.