AAP Statement on Senate Passage of Safe Cribs Act

By: Moira Szilagyi, MD, PhD, FAAP, president, American Academy of Pediatrics

“Last night the U.S. Senate passed the Safe Cribs Act, a bill long-championed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that would ban the sale of dangerous and unsafe crib bumpers nationwide. The bill now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives, which has already supported this crib bumper ban and will hopefully advance it once more.

“As a pediatrician, parent and grandparent, I cannot overstate how dangerous and deceitful crib bumpers are to infant safety. The safest sleep environment for babies is a firm, flat, bare surface, which is why it has been so concerning to see crib bumpers adorning store displays and misleading parents, ending up in families’ homes and leading to dozens of infant suffocation deaths. Crib bumpers provide no meaningful safety benefit, which the Safe Cribs Act recognizes by prohibiting the sale of these dangerous products. It is a long overdue step that is supported by science.

“Pediatricians have helped elevate this issue at the local level by working tirelessly to ban crib bumpers in their communities and generate momentum for this federal legislation so that infants in every state can be protected. Today we are one step closer to that promise.

“Senate passage of the Safe Cribs Act is an important step forward and we urge the House to pass this bill without delay. The AAP thanks Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) for their bipartisan leadership on this important legislation and is urging for its swift passage into law."

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org and follow us on Twitter @AmerAcadPeds