Many of us have bought them to line our babies' cots and cribs with, but a UK based charity is now urging parents to remove cot bumpers completely following a study which found the number of infant deaths attributed to cot bumpers has spiked in recent years.
The Lulluby Trust, which promotes expert advice on safer baby sleep and raises awareness of Sudden Infant Death (SIDS), recently stated that evidence from a new American study shows that bumpers pose a "serious risk" to babies, and should be avoided completely.
The study by Washington University School of Medicine, published this week in the Journal of Pediatrics, found that between 1985 to 2012, 48 infant deaths were specifically attributed to cot bumpers. An additional 146 infants were involved in cot bumper incidents in which they nearly suffocated, choked or were strangled.
Chief executive Francine Bates from The Lulluby Trust said: "We do not recommend the use of any sort of cot bumpers and urge all parents to follow our safer sleep advice to use a flat firm mattress in a cot or Moses basket with no loose bedding, pillows or bumpers."
Once babies begin to roll and move about the cot bumpers pose a serious risk to babies' safety.
"We know that some infants have become entangled in the ties and material, or fallen whilst pulling themselves up on the bumpers," Bates explains. "Baby retailers need to think twice before selling these products or at the very least we need to see consistent safety standards for cot bumpers across Europe and clearer warning messages on all packaging."
She points out that knowing what baby products to choose can be confusing to parents, especially those about to welcome their first baby. "Our advice on sleeping arrangements is simple, however. The safest cot is a clear cot."
Professor and MD Bradley T. Thach headed up the American study and confirms what Bates is saying.
"The findings from the study which looked at infant deaths indicated that in the majority of incidents studied, cot bumpers were the sole cause of harm, disproving beliefs that other items also in the cribs such as blankets, pillows and stuffed animals caused the deaths and injuries."
The study proved that cot bumpers are more dangerous than first thought, and according to Thach, the infant deaths they studies could have been prevented if the cribs were empty when the baby was put to sleep in it.
"Most of those infants died due to suffocation because their noses and mouths were covered by a bumper or were between a bumper and a crib mattress," he explains. "No other objects were between the infants' faces and the bumpers."
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