Baby crib bumpers no more: Joe Biden signs ban into law. Find out why.
Laura A. Bischoff
The sale of crib bumper pads will be illegal nationwide after President Joe Biden signs the Safe Cribs Act into law.
The law, co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, Rob Portman and others, will prohibit sale, manufacturing and importing crib bumpers, which are widely sold despite strong advice to keep items out of cribs to prevent sudden infant death syndrome.
Ohio banned non-mesh crib bumper pads in 2017 as part of a campaign to address the state's high rates of infant mortality. Ohio's infant mortality rates have declined from 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015 to 6.9 in 2019 but the rate for Black babies is nearly three times what it is for white babies.
Baby Deaths:Despite years of efforts to combat infant mortality in Ohio, racial disparity increases
Here are three things to know about safe sleep for babies:
- Crib bumpers have no health benefits and have been associated with the asphyxiation and suffocation deaths of dozens of infants across the country.
- Babies should sleep alone, on their backs, in an empty crib.
- In Ohio each year more than 15% of infant deaths are sleep-related, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.