New Crib Purchasing: Baby Safety Tips

When choosing a crib for our new baby, my wife and I considered all the typical things you think about when purchasing furniture. We considered price, size, style, color, comfort, etc. But the one thing we definitely kept in mind as the number one priority in selecting a crib for our baby was safety. But we wondered... how do we know if a crib is safe? Are there any safety guidelines to follow when purchasing a crib? What about used cribs...how do you check for safety? I remember the first time my wife and I stepped into a Babies R Us superstore. I was shocked at the sheer magnitude of baby products! I think I just stood and stared for at least 10 minutes. And when it came to cribs, the number of choices was just overwhelming. There were different colors, different styles, different woods, different mattresses, different sizes...and on, and on. It was dizzying! One thing that we didn't think about at first was the issue of safety. We just sort of assumed that all the cribs were safe. And for the most part, my guess is that the cribs being produced these days are, in fact, safe. But as we researched our crib purchase a little further, we realized that we can't just leave our baby's safety to "assumptions" about whether manufacturers follow safety standards or not. There are safety recalls all the time on baby products that we assume are safe. And we've all heard the horror stories about infants dying in crib accidents. So here is a list of safety guidelines to follow that we have found in our research.

Cribs should not have corner posts that are taller than 1/16 of an inch. I was actually surprised to see that there are still cribs out there that have corner posts higher than this. The reason this is a safety issue is because a baby's clothing can get snagged on these corner posts and potentially strangle a baby. And even with crib safety guidelines being fairly widely distributed now days, we still hear of strangulation accidents in cribs every year.

There should be no more than 2 3/8 inch of space in between the slats around the sides of the crib. A baby's head or other body part can slip through a larger opening and the baby can get trapped. This is another accidental crib death horror story we hear about. And for similar reasons, don't get a crib with decorative cutouts in the headboard. Again, your baby's head could get trapped in the openings.

Check to make sure that the mattress fits snugly in the crib. You shouldn't be able to slide more than one finger in between the mattress and the sides of the crib. This is because your baby can get trapped between the mattress and the crib.

Be sure that there are no loose bolts or screws, or any other pieces of hardware for that matter. Especially with the type that have the sliding side panel. Loose screws or bolts can cause clothing to get snagged, potentially leading to strangulation. Besides, if screws or bolts are loose that means something isn't put together correctly. This could possibly cause the crib to collapse.

1992...remember this date because it's important. Be sure to purchase cribs that were manufactured AFTER 1992. Cribs made prior to this date will not conform to the safety standards set by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Material). This is probably more important for those of you thinking of purchasing a used crib. But it's not a bad idea to check just in case. By the way, I would recommend that you do not purchase a used crib. Yes, you can check the date of manufacture and even check all of the other safety guidelines. But why even take the chance of anything going wrong with a used crib? You can save your money on getting used items that don't have safety concerns. This goes for used cribs offered to you by well meaning family or friends. Just purchase a new one. It's worth the peace of mind.