Risk of Suffocation

• According to The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Center for Health and Safety in Child Care, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the First Candle/National SIDS Alliance, bumpers should never be placed in a baby's bed. Having the baby's face near something soft increases the risk of suffocation, and bumpers decrease air flow into the crib.
  
  

Bumpers Are Still Sold

• Despite medical warnings about bumpers, many parents continue to use them, and most manufacturers still include them in baby bedding sets. However, you can avoid wasting a cute bumper by making a valance, a pillow, a quilt, wall art or even a cloth book out of it.
  
  

Valance

• Bumpers can easily be transformed into window valances. Use a decorative pole above the window, and hang the valance by adding straps to the top of the bumper pad.
  
  

Pillows and Quilts

• Sections of bumpers make great pillows for the back of a rocking chair. Cut the bumper into two pieces the size you desire. Place the fabric right sides together, and stitch up three edges. Turn the fabric right side out, insert a pillow form or pillow stuffing, and hand-stitch the third side closed.
  
  You can cut sections of the bumper out and use them to make a little quilt. The quilt will be all right for a toddler to use, or you can put it on the floor for baby's tummy time.
  
  

Wall Art

• If the bumper has large images on it, cut them into squares and frame them for matching wall art. If you're really crafty, cut motifs out of the bumper and appliqué them onto a wall banner.
  
  

Soft Books

• Bumpers with interesting images also make great soft books for babies. Simply cut sections of the bumper into pieces twice as wide as you'd like the book to be. Finish the edges with binding, stack the "pages" one on top of the other, and stitch down the center.
  
  

And for the Crib...

• If you want to help prevent your baby from getting his limbs stuck through his crib slats, swaddling is a good idea for an infant. If your baby is too old to swaddle, try a crib bumper made from a single layer of mesh. This allows plenty of air to come through to your child's face, but also keeps him from getting uncomfortably stuck.