Safety Tips
General Baby Bedding Safety
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,
the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development have developed baby bedding safety guidelines
for putting infants under 12 months old down to sleep. These recommendations
include:
- Remove baby blankets, pillows, quilts,
comforters, and other soft products from the crib.
- If using a baby blanket, put baby with
feet at the foot of the crib. Tuck a thin baby blanket around the
crib mattress, reaching only as far as the baby's chest.
- Make sure your baby's head remains uncovered
during sleep.
For more information, please talk to your pediatrician and
view the
CPSC
Safety Information
Baby Bedding Safety for Travel
In February 2000, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and
the National Safe Kids Campaign conducted a spot check of hotels for safety
related to cribs and bedding. The spot checks revealed "unsafe cribs
and play yards in 80% of hotels and motels visited". According to the
report, "children under the age of 2 spend more than 7 million nights
per year in hotels, motels and resorts". So when you travel with your
children, please keep the appropriate safety precautions in mind:
- Make sure portacrib and playard
sheets fit snugly on mattress and overlap the mattress
so it cannot be dislodged by pulling on the corner
of the sheet. (Check out our No-Slip
Playard Sheets - take one with you
when you travel!)
- Never use an adult sheet
on a portacrib or playard mattress; it can come loose
and present an entanglement hazard to young children.
- Place a baby on his/her
back on a firm, tight-fitting mattress in a crib meeting
current safety standards.
- Remove pillows, quilts,
comforters, and sheepskins from the crib.
The CPSC has made available a
hotel
and motel crib and play yard safety checklist that you
can print and take with you when you travel to make sure the
hotel-provided crib/play yard is safe.
