Crib Safety: Keeping Your Baby Safe in the Crib

Infants spend a lot of time in their cribs, beginning with the day they are born. Often times, when they aren't being held, or on the floor, they are in their beds. SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, was previously known as Crib Death because nearly all cases of SIDS occurred in the crib. For this reason, it is important to know what to look for when checking the safety of a crib. Sometimes fancy and expensive cribs aren't better. Sometimes cheaper cribs aren't better. It all depends on the situation, and knowing what to look for can make a huge difference. There are five different aspects to checking the safety of the crib that you are using. These five aspects are the design of the crib, the crib mattress, the crib hardware, the crib accessories, and the environment around the crib. If even one thing in any of these categories is unsafe, it becomes a hazard to our babies.

1. The Design of the Crib

The design of the crib is what catches a lot of attention with consumers. We want something cute and aesthetically pleasing. A lot of people, when shopping for a crib, want the crib to accentuate the nursery. The safety of the child seems to slip the mind at times. Generally, you run into more problems when you buy older, used cribs that aren't up to date with the safety standards. A major hazard of older cribs is the lead paint that they were painted with. Lead paint is a very serious issue. Cribs painted with lead paint should be thrown out immediately. Decorative cutouts, or carvings, can also be hazardous as the child may get a hand or head stuck, depending on the size of the design. Neither outcome is desired. Children can also get their heads or hands stuck in between the slats of the crib. For this reason, they should be no more than 2-3/8 inches apart. For an easy measurement, this is about the width of a soda can. If a can of soda can fit through the slats, then you want to find a different crib. Another problem that can arise, is a child falling out of the crib. For this reason, the top part of the railing needs to be twenty-six inches above the bottom of the mattress when the crib railing is raised. Once the child is old enough to pull up, the mattress should be put as far down as it will go - and once the rail is less than three quarters his height, you should stop using the crib.

2. The Crib Mattress

The mattress is a key part in the safety of the crib. Other than it needing to be at the correct height, it needs to fit securely inside of the crib. Any gaps or flaws in it can be a hazard to the child. When purchasing a crib and mattress separately, make sure that the mattress fits snuggly on all sides of the crib. Typically, buying a new crib assures you of this. If two of your fingers can fit between the mattress and the crib, the mattress needs to be replaced with a better fitting crib mattress. When covering a crib mattress, you should not cut corners and use flimsy plastic such as dry cleaning bags or trash bags. This can cause suffocation. To ensure safety of the child, it is also important to sleep the infant on his back rather than his stomach. This can reduce the probability of SIDS.

3. The Crib Hardware

Problems can arise with the assembling process. A screw can not get in tight enough, or the brackets holding up the mattress can bend or break, among other things. It is important to check all of the areas that could be problematic often to avoid danger. When looking the crib over, make sure that nothing has come apart, broken, or bent. Also, in the initial check, make sure that the crib is smooth and has no sharp edges or rough patches that could potentially harm the child. Another important aspect of the crib to look at is the locking or latch. In order to drop the side of the crib down, there needs to be to be at least two distinct actions to undo the latch, or there needs to be a requirement of at least ten pounds of pressure to undo it to keep the child from accidentally unlatching it.

4. The Crib Accessories

Crib accessories can make the crib look cute and add to the décor of the room, but it can also potentially be dangerous to the child. Bumper pads are a common accessory to most crib, however, they can be dangerous. If a child's face gets smashed into it and they don't have the muscle control to get themselves out of that position, it can cause suffocation. This goes for stuffed animals and other toys as well. Pillows and stuffed animals should be avoided for the same reason as the bumper pads. Even the crib sheet should fit snuggly over the mattress to avoid any possible suffocation.

5. The Environment Around The Crib

The environment is the final aspect of crib safety that should be looked at before putting a baby in the crib. The crib should not be placed next to a window. Cords to blinds or drapery cause a hazard, as the child can become entangled and not be able to get out of it. Make sure the room is free of lead. This also includes the dust and soil off of roads with a lot of traffic, old paint on walls, or old toys and furniture. If you are unsure as to whether or not something has lead paint, you can call the National Safety Council's National Lead Information Center to have it tested. Objects with lead paint should immediately be thrown out.

All of these aspects of crib safety should be looked at before putting a child in the crib that could be potentially dangerous. Sometimes things change, so some of these things, such as the hardware of the crib, should be checked periodically to make sure that it is still in condition safe enough for the growing infant. As the child grows, different requirements should be met, such as the height of the side of the crib and the mattress. For the safety of your baby, it is important to keep these things in mind.