A mesh liner, or nothing at all

What the law took away

The Safe Sleep for Babies Act was signed in May 2022, and the ban on padded crib bumpers took effect that November. It reaches padded bumpers, vinyl guards and vertical slat covers. The definition CPSC wrote for it does not include a non-padded mesh crib liner.

That leaves a plain question with no padded option in it. Either the inside of the rail is bare, or something non-padded runs along it.

The case for the bare rail

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a bare crib: a firm flat mattress, a fitted sheet, and nothing else in it. That recommendation does not carve out mesh liners. Federal law and pediatric guidance say different things here, and we would rather you read both than hear only the half that suits us.

If you read that and decide on an empty crib, you have read it correctly, and we would rather you bought nothing from us than bought something you were talked into.

The case for the panel

The argument for a mesh panel is narrow and worth stating narrowly. It is about limbs and the gap between slats, and about a pacifier that would otherwise go on the floor. It is not an argument about anything else, and we are not going to stretch it into one.

Where the two agree

Both sides say the same thing about everything else in the crib: a firm flat mattress, a fitted sheet, and no pillows, quilts or loose blankets. A panel does not change that list, and a panel added to a crib full of soft things is the worst of the options rather than a compromise between them.

Take the panel out of the crib once your baby can pull up to standing against the crib side, which starts at around six months. An older baby can use it to climb.