Cot bumpers

Recently, my friend and her partner excitedly took me into their baby’s nursery that they had finished setting up.

Their little faces beamed as they proudly showed me all of the things they had lovingly prepared for the arrival of their daughter.

It looked beautiful and my first thought was what a lucky little girl and what an exciting time for her parents. Then I saw them…the cot bumpers. My stomach gave a lurch. I was going to have to put a damper on their joy. I was going to have to break the news that cot bumpers are quite frankly dangerous.

Misleadingly, when shopping online or in a shop for cots they are always laid out with adorable matching bedding sets. Included are often cot bumpers, a matching loose blanket and a fleece blanket. There are also often a few stuffed teddy bears arranged in the cot as well. Seeing this display parents assume this is what a baby should have in their cot. Now I will be the first to admit that they look so cute and inviting. And…Bam! The desired effect is achieved. The expectant parents imagine their precious bundle snuggled up amongst all of this paraphernalia and purchase a bedding set.

Sadly, what many expectant parents don’t realise is that cot bumpers are in fact considered quite dangerous. They are actually illegal to sell in many countries due to the risks associated with them. Although they are not illegal in this country, any advice you read on safe sleeping will include a section on not using cot bumpers. Any time the health visitor discusses sleeping with you they always say not to use cot bumpers.

The dangers associated with using cot bumpers are the potential for entrapment, asphyxiation and strangulation.

In fact the only thing that should be in your baby’s cot is a fitted flat sheet.

Worried that baby may hurt themselves on the hard bars or end up with limbs hanging through the bars? Don’t be. From personal experience my daughter, once able to move, spent a good 3 months or so sleeping with both legs poking out of the bars right up to her nappy. She was fine and seemed to enjoy this position. In the beginning once I realised she was hanging out of the cot I would reposition her and watch as she instantly wriggled back to the edge and poked her legs straight through the bars again.

Although it hurt to be the one to tell them that the money they had spent on the bedding set was wasted and that they couldn’t use it, I felt pleased that I had informed them about a risk that they were previously unaware of.

#cotbumpers #newborn #safety #babyhacks #mumhack #parenthack #safesleeping #sleeping #nursery