How did we survive as children?

I read all about bumper pads and how you shouldn't use them because kids can use them to stand on and crawl out of the crib and that they can contribute to SIDS and how they just aren't safe to use etc.... I chose not to use them and now that my son is 6 months old I am going out to buy some TODAY. The breathable kind of course. This is why bumper pads were created... use them.

So, it seems after talking to the health nurse that the problem is not bumper pads, it's cribs. If they are death traps why do we spend hundreds of dollars on them to decorate our nurseries??? Clearly, we should be letting them sleep in the travel cribs with the mesh sides instead of in cribs that they can put their appendages through. Cribs are over rated. I should have just stuck with the $80 pack n play and avoided this situation all together!