Crib bumpers: what I learned.

I never used crib bumpers when Violet was a baby.  Technically, the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend them because the baby can roll into them while it is sleeping and suffocate on them.    However, when Violet was about 6 months old, she started doing this:

 Yep, that's Violet with her legs wedged between the crib slats.  When she was first learning to crawl, she would only go backwards and then this would happen.  At that point I started wishing that I had bumpers.  But I never got around to making any.

Until this pregnancy.  This is what I did with my on-sale designer fabric.  I love how they turned out.  I feel like they are gender-neutral enough to use with either a boy or a girl, since I don't know which I'm having.

They weren't as easy as I had planned.  I underestimated how many ties I would need (I ended up using 8 for each long side and 4 for each short side).  I also bought thick satin ribbon for the ties.  It looks pretty, but thinner, coarser ribbon is actually easier to tie.  I also didn't think about how expensive foam is (to fill the bumpers).  I resorted to cutting up an old foam mattress pad and  using that as the filling.  It actually works quite nicely.

I should let you know that you probably won't be saving any money by making these yourself.  You can find ones that aren't too expensive online.  But if you want to be able to customize the fabric and make them exactly match your room, this is the way to go.  Besides, if you buy them, you won't have the frustration of messing up and redoing fulfillment of making these on your own.

And as for the safety part of these, I have decided that if the baby starts to roll (which Violet never figured out how to do), then I will take them out.  Just to be safe.  But I have no reservations about putting them back in the second this kid learns how to crawl backwards.