Baby cribs are often fitted with bumpers that help make them look more cozy and adorable, but according to new research, these padded cushions pose a serious threat to young children as they can get caught in the fabric and suffocate to death.

Dr. Bradley Thach, a pediatrics professor at Washington University's School of Medicine, led a team of researchers in studying the first documented case of crib bumper-related death in the country in 2007.

Since then, the situation has gotten worse as more and more infants have died because of the crib accessory.

In a recent study featured in The Journal of Pediatrics, Thach and his colleagues discovered that there have been 23 infant deaths due to suffocation from crib bumpers between 2006 and 2012, based on records collected from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

This figure is three times higher compared to the average number of infant deaths in the past three seven-year periods.

From 1985 to 2012, there have already been 48 babies who have died because of accidents related to crib bumpers. Around 146 more received various injuries related to the padded cushions including near-suffocation and choking on the ties of the bumpers.

"These deaths are entirely preventable," N.J. Scheers, former head of the infant suffocation project of the CPSC and lead author of the recent study, said.

Many of the accidents related to crib bumpers either had the baby's face caught in the padded fabric, causing suffocation, or the child got stuck between the bumper and another object in the crib. Scheers pointed out that in all of the reported incidents, the babies would not have died if their cribs did not have bumpers.

Alternative to Using Crib Bumpers

Crib bumpers were originally meant to keep infants from falling out of their crib. They are also designed to prevent young children from hitting their heads or getting their legs and arms stuck between the rails of the crib.

Scheers, however, said that placing babies in a sleeping sack is a better way to keep their legs and arms safe as they rest in their crib.

He added that using a crib bumper to keep young children from getting a minor bump on the head is not worth having them suffocate on the padded cushions.

While both the American Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Institute and the American Academy of Pediatrics have released warnings against the use of crib bumpers, Scheers said that parents often dismiss the dangers of the accessory because stores still include them in the cribs they offer.

The industry standard on the thickness of crib bumpers has been reduced to 2 inches or less in 2012. The thinner cushions were meant to lessen the likelihood of infant suffocation. The recent study, however, found that three of the bumper-related deaths recorded involved thinner crib bumpers.

Photo: Joshua Blount | Flickr