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Preparing for your newborn’s arrival home can be fun — designing a nursery, all those adorable new onesies—but there’s a serious side as well: you want to make sure your home environment is as safe as possible. Read about how to help keep your baby safe.
This is one of the first safety products your new baby will need — you won’t be allowed to leave the hospital without one. When you’re shopping for a car seat, there are a few good rules to follow:
Your baby will spend a great deal of time in his or her crib. Babies are left alone most often in their cribs for extended periods of time, so it’s crucial to take extra precautions to create the safest sleeping environment possible.
Like car seats, crib safety standards are maintained by the federal government. They were updated in 2011 to include a prohibition on drop-side rails on cribs and stronger mattress supports. Other crib safety tips include:
The choice of mattress is also critical. The crib mattress should be “snug fitting”, with no gap between the crib sides and the mattress (you shouldn’t be able to fit more than two fingers in the gap between the crib slats and mattress). The mattress itself should be firm, with a tight-fitting mattress sheet.
Manufacturers have recently introduced a new type of washable, breathable mattress that is designed to allow easier air flow through the fabric, as well as make cleaning easier after accidents. The core of these mattresses can be popped into the shower and hosed down to remove dust mites and odors, then replaced on your baby’s crib.