Is Your Baby Crib Bedding Healthy?

In a year more than 6000 babies died due to sudden infant death syndrome(SIDS), among this more than 900 babies died due to sleeping on soft baby crib bedding. That brings to mind the question, is your baby bedding safe?

It’s never a good idea to lay an infant on her stomach, because not being able to fully lift her head yet, she might actually soffucate with her face pressed on the bed. Despite being comfortable for babies, soft mattresses may be dangerous for little ones. They might not have the strength to roll over to recover from the dangerous position and the fatal accidents might happen if no one is around to take good care of the little one and as infants are too weak, when their heads are being placed on the soft mattress.

parents can select a baby nursery bedding with a firm mattress that does not get depressed easily when some weight is being applied on it in order to avoid accidents. The strenght of the mattress can be assessed by pressing one hand against the mattress with the resisting force. This is a simple way to assess a mattress. The more resistant a mattress, the safer it is.

Bumper pads are often added to a crib to give it a designer look; but a baby can suffocate if he becomes stuck with his face pressed into one.

Parents should have care and precaution because infants are vulnerable and weak during this period. Parents need to make a choice between wanting cute and wanting what’s safest for the baby. If the parents should choose the latter, they should take out all the bumper pads from the crib and refrain from putting anything that might cause danger to their babies again.

Research has shown that toxic gases, harmful to baby, are found in mattresses. Some researchers have found that phosphorus and arsenic which are generally used as fire retardants, are added to mattresses which can be very harmful. These chemicals can react with others and release poisonous gases; if an infant breathes too much of these, he can die while sleeping in his crib.

Scientists later discovered that one of the reactants, helping to release the poisonous gas, is a fungus that commonly grows in baby bedding. Parents are thus urged not to use old nursery and crib bedding which has been used before, as it may contain fungus after a long period of time. To insure that no fungus is present, parents should be sure to buy new bedding for each new infant. New bedding in a baby’s room is far more welcoming than recycled.

In addition, there is some concern about synthetic fabric in baby bedding sets. While there is no solid proof that synthetic fabrics are harmful to a baby, you may want to stick to natural fibers. There are plenty of stylish cotton nursery bedding sets available (one of my favorites is the Trend Lab’s Maya crib bedding), so there is no need to sacrifice style for safety.

Use this criteria to determine if your baby bedding is safe. If not, it is a good idea to select and purchase a new, safe bedding which will not only ensure the safety of your baby but will help you sleep worry-free at night.