Are you sure that your baby bedding is safe?
Reports have shown that there are more than 6000 babies die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) each year and out of these cases, more than 900 cases are due to babies sleeping on soft baby nursery bedding. Therefore the question, is your nursery bedding safe?
Soft baby nursery bedding can cause an infant to suffocate when the baby is being placed on her belly and her head sinks into the soft mattress. Soft mattresses are comfortable for babies, but on the other hand, they might not be as safe as one might think.As infants are too feeble, when their heads are being placed on the soft mattress, they might not have the strength to turn around and recover from such a dangerous position. Fatal accidents might occur if nobody is around to take good care of the little one.
To avoid such accidents, 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. Parents can easily do a test by pressing one hand against the mattress to assess it’s strength in resisting the force applied. The harder it is to press down on the mattress, the safer it is.
The fulffy bumper pads that are added to the crib can also cause suffocation. Bumper pads make the baby nursery bedding look cute and pretty, however, suffocation can happen when infants have their face pressed against the soft and fluffy bumper pads and are unable to free themselves.
nfants are weak and vulnerable during this period, and parents should be more careful when it comes the safety of your child. Some people recommend to purchase bumper pads that are more compact and firm while others just don’t use them at all. The latter being the best method because, though rare, there are also incidents of strangulation by the long strings of the bumper pads and suffocation when babies are pressed between the bumper pads and another object.
Researchers also found out that there are poisonous gases in mattresses which can harm the baby’s health . Scientists found that there are certain substances containing phosphorous and arsenic which are used as fire retardants, are being added to mattresses which can be very dangerous. Once these chemical compounds interact with certain reactants, they release poisonous gases which may be fatal if a baby breathes in a large amount of it when sleeping in the baby nursery bedding.
Scientists later discovered that a fungus that frequently grows in baby bedding might be one of the substances which can assist to release the poisonous gases. Therefore, they urge parents not to reuse old baby nursery bedding which may contain such fungus after being used for a long period of time. Although, infants use baby beddings for a couple of months or longer only, parents should buy new bedding instead of reusing to avoid the existence of such fungus. Furthermore, a new baby nursery bedding will look prettier than an old reused one.
Looking at all these factors, parents should be able to evaluate if they have a safe baby nursery bedding. If not, go buy a new crib set and choose one safe bedding so that not only will your baby be able to sleep safe and sound, but you will have a good rest every night without worries.
CPSC: Safety issues on children products
The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) was created in 1972 and for more than 30 years, it has taken the responsibility of protecting consumers against risks of injuries resulting from the use of consumer products. The Consumer Product safety Improbvement Act (CPSIA) was registered into the American law to further strengthen the safety measures required in consumer products.
Most recently, laws have been implemented and planned to further reduce children’s exposure to lead. Too much lead in your blood may cause irreversible brain damage, kidney problems and even death. In the late 1970s, the problem was so serious, that there were millions of children in the United States with elevated blood lead levels that were deemed unhealthy!
The CPSC noticed the severity of the situation and have decided that any children product that consists more than 600 parts per million (ppm) of lead in any part of an accessible product would be seen as dangerous. Which means that any children’s product from toys to baby nursery bedding which contains more than 600ppm would be dangerous for children under the CPSIA.
The CPSC has also defined that any person at the age of 12 years or younger would be seen as children under the eyes of the law and all goods that were manufactured with the intention of selling mainly to the these group of children will have to comply to it.
This law also applies to all baby nursery bedding, nursery decoration, toys and children’s products that were manufactured before the date of the law that was implemented. The Commission has enforced that all finished products that were made after 90 days since the establishment of the rule to be tested by an accredited third party. This is to assure that the manufacturers comply to the safety rules that the Commission has enforced.
In addition, they have shown their determination in making all products extremely safe for use by intending to drop the limits to 300ppm in August and further reduce it again in 2011 to a level which is seen justifiable to the availability of technology by then. However, with the rapid advancement of technology, all toys and baby nursery bedding might contain only traces of lead and would be extremely safe for use in the near future.
Shopping for a baby mattress
When shopping for a baby nursery bedding, many parents do not put too much thoughts into the choosing of mattresses for babies. However there are areas where parents should take note of to make sure the safety and comfort of your precious one.
Many parents usually buy mattresses off the rack without much thought. Different parents look out for different things such as price, size and safety aspects which many parents may not have thought of. However, what is cheap may lack some safety features that may harm your child and what is may seem cozy and comfortable for adults may not be seen as the same way your your baby.
The one thing that one should consider first, size. When one chooses the size, parents must make sure that the size fits the crib or baby nursery bedding that you already own. Many mattresses have standardized the size these days so that should not be a problem, but as the safety of the child is involved, it is better to make sure that the size fits rather than simply assuming.
When there is too big a gap between the crib and the mattress, your baby’s hand might get caught in the gap, and not knowing better, they may injure themselves as they roll around or result in their feet getting trap when they start to walk.
Parents can make sure that at all edges, there is no more than one finger spacing between the crib and the mattress. This would ensure that there would not be an extra space that might accidently injure your precious child.
Other than the size, another area is the comfort. For adults, a cusy and cozy mattress may be the best for a comfortable night’s rest but for babies and toddler, the mattress should not be too soft. This is especially important when when it comes to newborns. Newborns are unable to toss and turn around, and by having a tougher mattress, it allows the baby to turn over easily as compared to a soft mattress. This is important, if your baby is facing down on her belly and if the mattress is too soft, resulting in difficulty in turning over, this may lead to suffocation.
Parents can ensure that the mattress is hard enough by pressing their palm down against the mattress. The harder to press, the less depression, the safer the mattress. Of course, the mattress cannot be too hard or it would feel uneasy for your precious baby.
Lastly, the price. Most parents find it difficult to decide over the material used. Do not worry, foam or coil, it is equally well if it fits the criteria above.
So choose wisely when selecting the baby nursery bedding for your hild and it will give your precious baby a good rest through the night!!
Categories: Babies Tags: baby bedding set, baby nursery bedding, crib bedding set, nursery bedding set, nursery crib bedding
