For several years the safety of crib bumpers have been called into question. Some have linked the bumpers to infant strangulation,entrapment, and suffocation. Retailers would have until June 21,2013 to comply with the ban. The ban does not include the mesh crib bumpers.
The proposed regulation defines baby bumper pads to be banned as: “a pad or pads of non-mesh material resting directly above the mattress in a crib, running the circumference of the crib or along the length of any of the interior sides of the crib, and intended to be used until the age that an infant pulls to stand.” The ban would not apply to vertical bumpers that wrap tightly around each individual crib rail or mesh crib liners. The Department nonetheless does not recommend the use of these novel products