Baby Sleeping Safety

Tips For Your Baby’s Safe Sleeping
Author: Kat Goodman
One of the first things your baby would tell you if they could talk would be how much they enjoy sleeping the majority of the time. This is a necessity for babies during their first months of life, sleeping helps in their early development. But, there can be complications, such as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) as well as others. These tragedies can be prevented by keeping the baby safe while sleeping.
Misfortunes such as these are responsible for the loss of thousands of babies every year, therefore the best safe sleeping habits are encouraged. In the hospital, pay attention to the way the nurses are placing your baby in his bed. At home, a crib should be set up for the arrival of your newest family member. But, before using the crib, make sure it poses no danger.
Check the area in which your baby’s crib will be located, ensuring there is not a flow of air from anywhere that would be too cold. The sheet for the crib should fit extremely well and the mattress should not give. Be sure to place your baby on his back, this is the best way for a baby to sleep. This will decrease instances of SIDS and other problems such as smothering.
Babies are often wrapped in to many clothes when the weather is cold. The best thing you can do is to set the room temperature around 68 degrees and put no more clothes on your baby than you would wear. For example, if you are comfortable in a tee shirt, don’t put flannels on your baby.
Don’t over dress or over heat your baby. Make sure your baby sleeps in a compact night suit. Free flowing frocks or dresses should never be used for sleeping. Moreover, any kind of baby jewelry, bonnets, and bibs should be removed before sleeping.
Movies you have seen may show a baby’s crib full of all types of stuffed animals or even one larger animal. The truth is this is not safe sleeping and should not be considered in real life. These are potentially deadly items for a baby, possibly cause them to suffocate. Remove all pillows, toys, blankets and other loose bedding from the crib.
Parents often give pacifiers to their babies. This is believed by many doctors to help reduce SIDS. The correct pacifier should be chosen for the baby’s age. I personally would choose a orthodontic pacifier. These are made to decrease the odds of the baby having an overbite when they are older. Nothing should be attached to the pacifier such as ribbons or yarn. The dangers of strangling or choking on them is real.
There are times when parents may place the baby on their bed to sleep. You should not do this mainly because the baby could fall off or could roll over in the covers and suffocate. This is often done when people are visiting relatives. This is where a little planning ahead is necessary. Prepare yourself, bring along a playpen. If the playpen isn’t feasible, using your car seat would be.
Safety is always a consideration when you have a new baby. Hopefully, these safe sleeping tips will allow you to rest a little easier and your baby too.
Frequently Asked Questions
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QUESTION:
how old does my baby have to be until its safe to put her under a blanket instead of a sleeping bag?
My daughter is currently sleeping in a baby sleeping bag – I was wondering when I can put her in a bed make with a blanket etc in regards to safety & sids?-
ANSWER:
I’ve always understood that it’s safest to wait to use a blanket with a small child until they’re at least a year old, preferably older. However, many parents use blankets on younger children with no ill effects. I personally only put a blanket on my son (10 months) at nap time, when I know I’ll be checking on him very often. Otherwise, he wears warm jammies or a sleepsack.
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QUESTION:
I want to put my baby to sleep with a 100% cotton blanket for safety. Is chenille 100% cotton?
I have wrapped my baby’s mattress in a babesafe cover and want to follow the instructions correctly for safe sleeping. It calls for a 100% cotton blanket. His “night night” is polyester but feels similar to chenille so I may be able to make the switch easily if chenille is okay. Is anyone familiar with Dr. Sprott’s guidelines and does anyone know if the chenille blanket is okay?-
ANSWER:
I use the Babesafe cover too!!Chenille is not 100% cotton.
Use a super-sized 100% cotton bath towel. It took me a while to figure that one out!
I just wanted to make sure you understand that the cotton blanket goes between the mattress cover and the mattress sheet. Babies shouldn’t sleep with blankets in their cribs.
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QUESTION:
Has anyone else used the Safety 1st Baby Plus Pre Natal Education System?
I was wondering of the claims were true. Did your baby sleep better? Was he / she more content? I figured it couldn’t hurt.Thank you!
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ANSWER:
I used it throughout my pregnancy but I wasn’t as strict with following the schedule as it called for. It’s hard to know if my son was affected or if it’s just his nature (he is our first so we have nothing to compare to) but he is a well-natured, happy little boy. He just turned 1 last week. He rolled over at 3 months, crawled at 6, cruised at 7-1/2. He hasn’t started walking yet but I think that is because he’s smart enough to know that he’ll get there faster crawling (he’s VERY fast). He weaned himself of his middle of the night feedings and started sleeping through the night at the same time at 6 months. Now he goes to sleep with no problem and sleeps almost 12 hours a night. Rarely cries “just because”.
Again, hard to know if it was because of the Baby Plus or just great genes
but I would/will do it again.
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QUESTION:
Newborn: Where does baby sleep when you bring him home??
Im due January 4th and confused about where to have the newborn sleep. I have a baby safety class in 2 weeks, but am getting the babies room ready now so would like to know what I need ready.I have a crib and a pack n play that has a basinette. I assembled the basinette and the hooded part kept coming un-velcroed. It’s dissapointing.
But anyways, where should the newborn sleep & for how long? When is it safe for baby to sleep in crib?
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ANSWER:
Newborns can sleep in a crib as soon as they come home. However, many parents (myself included) find it more convenient to have the baby in a bassinette close to their bed for the first few weeks or months. This way you don’t have too far to travel for middle-of-the-night feedings. This worked well with my daughter as I was able to fall asleep faster. Some small babies may also feel overexposed by being in a big crib all by themselves. Since our daughter was premature, we decided that a smaller bassinette would be more intimate and probably help her sleep better.If you do decide that a basinette is best for you, I would recommend that you not use a travel bassinette. Rather, look at borrowing or purchasing a used “moses basket” or other bassinette (see the attached links to babiesrus). You may prefer to have your baby sleep in a crib if you are a very light sleeper. Otherwise, you’ll be waking up with every single sniffle, sneeze, and grunt (which babies do a lot of).
Best of luck!
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QUESTION:
my baby has started sleeping in his moses basket with his face against the sides. i fear for his safety.?-
ANSWER:
I would be really wary of mose’s baskets my friend nearly lost her son recently because of the same reason he got his face stuck between the sides and the mattress and he stopped breathing luckily her mother was there and got him breathing againI would either use a cot with the mattress snug to the bars or a swinging crib if he is not sitting up yet
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QUESTION:
Where can I find studies and statistics on sleeping with your baby?
I have let my nine week old sleep with us since he was born. I have heard conflicting information regarding safety. Everything from “it’s dangerous” to it “reduces the risk of SIDS”. I would like to find good information from reputable sources on this issue.-
ANSWER:
Here are some links below for you. As long as you follow safe co-sleeping guidelines, co-sleeping is a wonderful idea!Be sure to check out the first link from the Mother-Baby Sleep Laboratory.
EDITED TO ADD:
turtlesducky – I think you are confusing smothering and sids. They are two completely different things.
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QUESTION:
Why do they warn smokers against co-sleeping with their babies?
I was researching co-sleeping safety tips and every site warned against smokers co-sleeping with their babies, but none of the sites said why.-
ANSWER:
What is second-hand smoke?
Second-hand smoke is a mix of smoke from the burning end of a lit cigarette, pipe or cigar plus smoke blown into the air by the person smoking.
There is a big difference between second-hand smoke and someone who smokes sleeping next to a baby. Big Difference! If you smoke and have a new born, then do not smoke around the baby. When you are finish clean your face and hands properly. specially your face, since you might come to cuddle and kiss the sweety-pie.
But, remember, that babies have the best immune system than all others. It is natures way of protecting life. His immune system is stronger than the parents. It is the smoker that is at most risk.
Unless you are sitting in the same room with the baby, all windows and doors closed and smoking a cigar, you will be o.k..
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QUESTION:
cot style and sleeping baby (Plz answer, question inside)?
Dicuss the sleeping position for infants and the health and safety considerations.
I recently just have a baby. plz answer.-
ANSWER:
most people say to put the babies on the backs as it reduces the risk of SIDS but if your baby has reflux, then the stomach is the best place for them to be.
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