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.
Categories: Babies Tags: baby bedding, baby crib bedding, crib bedding, SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
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.
