Do You Realize Crib Sheets Can Be Dangerous?

Most new parents choose their crib bedding for aesthetic reasons. Some realize crib sheets must also be hardy to cope with the pee, vomit, perspiration, not to mention constant washing, all of which takes its toll. But how many parents consider the safety of their crib sheets?

How can crib sheets be dangerous?! If a crib sheet comes off the mattress your baby can grasp the fabric and roll, wrapping themselves in the sheet. The consequences can be fatal due to strangulation or suffocation. Don’t let this happen to you and your baby. Consider the following safety checklist:

1. Use a firm and well fitting mattress and securely fitting crib sheets.

There should be no gaps between the mattress and the edge of the crib, where a baby’s head or limbs could get jammed. On your mattress, use snug fitted sheets with elastic that goes the whole way around the sheet. Check that you have at least 2″ of material under the mattress on all four sides and corners. Never use a top sheet as a bottom sheet (check at hotels).

2. Take the “Pull Test”.

If you can pull up the bottom sheet of your ladybug crib set then so might your child. Do not use sheets that fail this test, even if they are your favorite.

3. Check after playing or jumping.

Make sure that if baby has been playing or jumping in the crib the sheet has not been pulled up.

4. After each wash conduct a safety inspection:

• check for shrinkage, particularly after tumble drying.
• check the elastic. If the elastic has stretched or broken, do not use the sheet.
• if the sheet has elastic straps or ties, ensure they cannot come undone and haven’t stretched.

5. Consider alternatives

• Safer Bedding

Several manufacturers have developed a safer solution to the traditional fitted crib sheet. Priva have developed the Baby Luxe range with Safety Stay-On corners that ensure the sheet cannot come loose. A similar product is the Hallo Secure Fit Crib Sheet that features deep pockets and uses Velcro to keep the sheet on tight.

Some manufacturers produce sheets that slip onto the mattress like a pillow case or use zippers to enclose the mattress. The disadvantage of these products is that the mattress must be lifted to remove the sheet – not much fun in the middle of the night! An alternative is the innovative QuickZip Sheet Set which has a two piece sheet where the top comes off for easy changing.

• Baby Sleeping Bags and Sleeping Suits.

Many experts recommend that baby is put to bed on his/her back in a crib with only a tight fitting bottom sheet and kept warm using a baby sleeping bag or sleeping suit. With no comforter, top sheet, pillow, blanket or soft toys in the crib there is minimal risk of suffocation by accidentally covering baby’s head and face. The added advantage of sleeping bags and suits is they are not able to be kicked off during sleep.

About the Author

Alan Riley is the publisher of www.beautifulbeddingsets.com, a site devoted to helping people find the perfect bedding for their needs. From JoJo Designs Crib Bedding to comforter sets, you’ll find just what you need.

Previously, we posted about how to care for your baby when she’s sick and in this post, we will go over when to consider calling your baby’s doctor and what kind of information to have readily available when talking to your doctor.

Establishing a good relationship with your baby’s doctor before she gets sick is important so you can have a good understanding of how to communicate with the doctor at a time when you need their attention the most. Most doctors are very busy and have only a little time (if any) to communicate with patients who don’t have an appointment. You can often call the advice nurse at the doctor’s office and she can help guide you about next steps or she will take a message and talk to the doctor when she’s free.

It is also a good idea to get a list from your doctor at a well-baby check up with which sick baby symptoms warrant calling the doctor about. These might include a high fever for several days, non-stop crying, vomiting or loss of appetite. If you have a premature baby, or an infant with other health issues, then your doctor may have a special set of instructions for what to watch out for when your baby has a cold.

Having a sick baby can be stressful and if your baby isn’t sleeping well when she’s sick, then chances are you will be tired as well. Tracking baby’s illness symptoms, temperature and medication when she’s sick will be helpful not only for identifying when there have been significant changes as well as being able to report to the doctor and answer any questions he might have.

Doctors appreciate information such as baby’s current temperature, how much she is eating and drinking and how many wet diapers she has had each day. Fewer wet diapers than usual might indicate baby is not getting enough liquids.

When you do call your doctor, keep the following in mind:

1. Know what questions you want to ask before you call.
2. Be able to provide a concise and explicit list of the symptoms you are concerned about and how long the symptoms have lasted.
3. Don’t expect the doctor to automatically prescribe medication or ask to see your baby in the office. Listen carefully to the doctor’s instructions and ask any additional questions to clarify what the doctor has said.
4. Don’t be afraid to provide feedback. Doctors and nurses can get busy so sometimes it might seem as though they don’t feel your baby’s illness is as serious as you do. It’s okay to gently and tactfully remind them if you feel as though you haven’t got the attention or information that you needed.

You may also be interested in “Sick Baby: How to Care for Your Baby’s Cold, so She Can Get Better Fast!”

When your baby has a cold, it can often mean long hours of comforting and holding a fussy baby. Caring for a baby with a cold can be anywhere from a few days to a week or more of dealing with a runny nose, coughing, sneezing and sleepless nights. Every parent wants to be able to speed up the process of getting better and see their baby back to their happy, cheerful self. In this post, we’ll cover some of the basics for caring for your baby’s cold to help getting her feeling better.

1. Fever- Be sure to keep a close eye on your baby’s temperature for signs of a fever. Keep a good baby thermometer on hand that helps make it simple and easy for monitoring your child’s temperature. Check with your pediatrician about the appropriate dosage to bring down a fever with Infant Tylenol or Motrin. Also, depending on the age of your baby, you may want to call your doctor if your baby’s temperature reaches between 101 and 103, to determine the best course of action for ruling out other illnesses or infection. Keep track of how much and how often you are giving your baby medication. This is important to avoid overdosing as well as it may be something you’ll need to know if you need to talk to your doctor. Baby Insights Day Tracker is one option for an easy way to track medications.

2. Doctor’s Office Phone Number- Keep your pediatrician’s or the on-call nurse’s phone number handy so you can easily find it when your baby is sick. Having a sick baby can be stressful, so the last thing you want to do is spend time searching for a phone number.

3. Keep Baby Hydrated- If your baby is vomiting, has diarrhea or a fever, it will be very important to make sure your baby is drinking plenty of breastmilk, formula or water. Diarrhea in babies can dehydrate a baby, so be sure to keep an eye on how many wet diapers your baby has when she is sick. If your baby seems to have an upset stomach and is eating solids, you will want to keep her diet limited to the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast).

4. Dealing with congestion- If your baby has a cough or runny nose, you can use a humidifier in her room at night to help calm her cough and to sleep better at night. You might also want to suction her nose several times a day or check with your pediatrician about using a decongestant.

5. Your Patience and Love- Often what a sick baby wants most is to snuggle up with mom and dad. Most babies will want to be held more than when they are sick. Part of caring for your baby when she has a cold is just helping make baby comfortable until she starts to feel better.

If your baby was born prematurely, parents should be especially vigilant to caring for baby when she has an illness and to be aware of any changes in baby’s behavior or symptoms. Colds or illness with a premature or special needs baby can be a more serious event in the first few months, so be sure to track changes such as inconsolable crying or difficulty in breathing and do not hesitate to call your doctor for advice on treating your baby’s symptoms.

For most of us, it will feel like our baby is getting teeth for what feels like two years straight. This is true particularly if your baby struggles when he gets teeth or doesn’t sleep well. This article will help you learn when babies start teething and what order your baby gets teeth, on average.

When Babies Start Teething

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know exactly when babies start teething because all babies are unique and genetics play a part, too. There are very few babies born with teeth and for most babies, they will not get their first tooth until 6-7 months old. Unfortunately, just because a tooth does not come through until 6-7 months, on average, does not mean that the teething process does not start sooner. Your baby can show signs of teething a month or two before the first tooth actually comes through the gums. Your 3 or 4 month old can drool and chew on toys or her hand like she will get teeth any day, but it just might not happen that quickly.

If you are breastfeeding, you might want teething to start later as it can be painful when your baby decides to chomp down at an inopportune moment. Don’t worry, women have been breastfeeding successfully for thousands of years, even babies with teeth and there is hope. You do not have to stop breastfeeding. If you can feel your baby’s teeth while breastfeeding, try removing your baby and re-latching him. If your baby bites at the end of a breastfeeding session, that usually means he’s finished so try to watch for signs he’s finishing before he bites such as slow sucking or looking around looking bored. If your baby does bite, end the breastfeeding session (or take a break if baby does need a feeding) and say “No bite.” firmly (but not yelling). He will quickly learn not to bite the breast that feeds him.

Order of Baby Teeth

Do not worry if your baby does not get teeth in the same order as other babies. The general guideline is your baby will get the bottom middle teeth, then the top middle, then the top incisors right next to the top middle and then bottom incisors next to the bottom middle. In other words, the top and bottom four teeth, in the middle, will be the first eight teeth your baby will get. In general, teeth usually come in pairs (but not always) about one per month or so. After the first eight, the first-year molars will begin to come in. The first-year and second-year molars are often the most difficult on your baby to come in. These teeth tend to take longer to come in and hurt your baby more as they break through the gums. Note: when your baby is teething, she may like to breastfeed more often to help massage her gums.

My personal teething story

I have two sons and when my first son started teething, it was around 4 months, but then didn’t pop through until just after 5 months old. He struggled with the first few teeth, but one day just had molars. His younger brother, on the other hand, didn’t get his first tooth until after 6 months and struggled for over a month to get his one-year molars and we all seemed to feel it with all the fussiness. So, even within the same family, when babies start teething varies and how difficult it is on the baby varies, too. A friend of mine’s son didn’t get his first tooth until well after he was a year old!

I hope this article has helped you figure out when your baby might start teething or whether she has already started. Make sure you send your family and friends a picture of her first tooth from her online baby album!

Share your teething story

Babies grow quickly and they soon learn to crawl and walk. This is the time you need to have child safety gates in place. You need them as part of your overall child safety proofing. You know that not all of the areas of your home are completely safe for baby and if you have steps, they really need to have child safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs.

You need peace of mind at the time your baby begins to crawl so you need to keep your baby as safe as possible using a safety gate. There are two major types of child safety gates, differing only in how they are mounted. There are pressure-mounted gates and hardware-mounted gates. Which one you choose depends on the area to be protected.

Look at the following points when buying a child safety gate:

• Look for Safety certification. You need to look or ASTM/JMPA certification for your child safety gate. It is present on the outside of the package so you know that the item has been inspected as safe. Don’t just go by the manufacturer’s name.

• Sizing. Use a ruler or measuring tape to measure the distance between the hard surfaces. Don’t rely on what seems like the right height for a gate because you need to remember that your baby will become upright and taller before you know it. Choose the taller one from the beginning.

• Bar Spacing. Many models have vertical slats and you should make sure the slats are no further apart than 2 ½ to 3 inches apart as any greater can trap a child’s head between the slats. The baby could strangle if he gets caught in too wide of slats.

• Opening with Ease. Most of the hardware mounted variety of child safety gates open easily with just one hand. Pressure mounted gates can be practically impossible to open so you have to climb over them. This can be dangerous, especially if you have a baby in tow. Having a gate opening feature will add to the price of the item but it is well worth it when it come to getting from room to room in your house with ease.

• Watch out for second-hand gates. If a gate was made before 1985, it might not be safe. It might be of the accordion variety which is unsafe because the triangle shaped holes on the gate can easily trap your baby’s head in it.

Pressure-mounted baby gates are simpler to install than hardware-mounted gates but can fall down when pressure is applied to them. Hardware-mounted gates are sturdier and should be used at the tops of stairs and when you really don’t want baby to get through the gate. It takes about a half an hour to install a permanent hardware mounted gate but it may be worth the extra time because they enhance the safety of the doorway.

Happy shopping!

by Neena of A Mom’s Life at NeenMachine.com

Originally published on Entrepremusings.com

I am honored that Aruni has asked me to do a guest post. As a “seasoned” mother of four, the Baby Tips category is right up my alley and a hard one to pare down (I have accumulated a lot of advice over the years – 11 to be exact!). In later years, when our other children were ready to start solid foods, we were much better prepared. By being slow and meticulous we were finally able to have fun with the introduction of solid foods.The key to our success is what we called a Baby Food Journal.

When our babies were around six months of age, and we made the decision to start the solid food phase, the journaling would begin.

Everyday, I would record the time of feeding, the amount, and the babies reaction to the taste (this one was for fun).

After the feeding, I would make notes of any unusual observations and the time they occurred. These would include skin rashes, health issues, upset stomach, gassiness, or general fussiness.

The next day the process would be repeated. If the food seemed to agree with the baby then it was time to increase the amount and again record my observations. If I saw an unusual reaction a call the pediatrician would be in order. And if I was unsure whether the reaction was indeed caused by the food, something like fussiness for example, then I would feed the baby a small quantity of the same food and watch for a repeat reaction.

Only introducing one new food per week in the first few months of starting solids was my rule. If things were going well I would reduce the time between new foods to three or four days.

Keeping a Baby Food Journal took a lot of stress and uncertainty out of the feeding process. And it was good documentation to give the pediatrician if things weren’t going well.

*photos used in this post by belgianchocolate and joeltelling, respectively

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Check out Neena’s blog. She has a lot of great things to share…with 4 kids she knows more than most of us about raising kids! Since her kids are older she never had the opportunity to use Babble Soft applications and she told me that when she was writing this guest tip, it crossed her mind that Baby Insights might help people keep track of solid feeding. We will be adding that feature in the future but interestingly our families often use the Medicine Dose pages to keep track of baby’s and/or mom’s food intake to discern patterns in baby’s reaction to foods or breast milk. Go figure. Our families are so awesome and so creative!

Note to new readers: these tips are based on our experiences, as well as those of our friends and readers. Please always consult with your doctor before implementing any tip that might impact the health of your baby. If you have a tip you’d like to submit please send an email to blogger at babblesoft dot com for possible inclusion. Please check the ‘baby tips’ category to make sure your tip (in some form or fashion) hasn’t already been posted. If it has been, feel free to comment on that post and support the tip. We also welcome respectful challenges to the tips because as is noted in our inaugural baby tip ‘everything is relative!’ We will, of course, give anyone who submits a tip we publish credit and a link back to their site!

Learning how to properly swaddle a baby can make life much easier in those first several weeks after your baby is born.  When we were in the hospital, the nurses could practically swaddle a baby in their sleep.  If the baby wasn’t hungry they would almost instantly calm down after they were swaddled.  It took us a few weeks to master the technique because our kids always seemed to wriggle out of their swaddles but after a while we were pros. 

You’d think we would remember the fine art of swaddling after having our first but with 2 1/2 years between them we had to re-learn the technique.  After a few months, they would break loose because they did not want to be swaddled anymore.  Parents.com has some nice illustrations on how to swaddle your baby using The Quick Wrap or The Burrito Roll style.  If you are looking for some great blankets to swaddle your baby in, check out Mr. Bobbles’ Blankets! 

 Our daughter with a professional nurse swaddle a day or so after she was born:

Our daughter in her co-sleeper at home with a not-so-professional swaddle. We called her the one armed sleeping bandit. 

Aruni
Founder, Babble Soft

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These tips are based on our experiences, as well as those of our friends and readers.  Please always consult with your doctor before implementing any tip that might impact the health of your baby.  If you have a tip you’d like to submit please send an email to blogger(at)babblesoft(dot)com.  Please check the ‘baby tips’ or ‘baby advice’ categories to make sure your tip (in some form or fashion) hasn’t already been posted.  If it has been, feel free to comment on that post and support the tip.  We also welcome respectful challenges to the tips because ‘everything is relative!’  We will, of course, give anyone who submits a tip we publish credit and a link back to their site!

Here’s a tip on breastfeeding a newborn:  Use TWO boppies.  When I had my son in 2002, I received a boppy (breastfeeding pillow) at my baby shower.  I really liked using it but discovered that I often had to put cushions or pillows beneath it to get our newborn son at a comfortable position for feeding.  The cushions would slip out or somehow (I don’t know how) he would kick them out.  I would then find myself hunching over and my back aching a bit after a while.  When my daughter was born in 2005, I received another one and happened to try stacking them and putting them both around my waist.  It was great!  Since I’m a bit short-waisted having the two breastfeeding pillows made me sit up straight thereby forcing me to maintain good posture (a plus).  Having two boppies was helpful to me in the cradle, cross-cradle, and football positions.  In the football position, I would put both boppies stacked on each other to my right or left and then I would place my daughter with her head toward me and her body/feet behind me resting on one of the sides of the boppy.  I used two for the first probably 12-16 weeks of her life.

Of course it’s not that easy to take a boppy with you when you are breastfeeding/nursing-in-public so on those occassions I propped them on our big, fat diaper bag because I always had it handy.

If you can’t afford another boppy, try to find a really sturdy/hard cushion that you can place under the boppy for the football position.  You’d have to find two slightly firm cushions if you want to use them for the cradle and cross-cradle positions.  You can also ask a friend if they are done with their boppy…I just gave one of ours away to a friend.  We also used our boppy for tummy time, sitting support, and all sorts of fun things that I’m sure you are not supposed to use it for.

Aruni
Founder, Babble Soft

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These tips are based on our experiences, as well as those of our friends and readers.  Please always consult with your doctor before implementing any tip that might impact the health of your baby.  If you have a tip you’d like to submit please send an email to blogger(at)babblesoft(dot)com.  Please check the ‘baby tips’ or ‘baby advice’ categories to make sure your tip (in some form or fashion) hasn’t already been posted.  If it has been, feel free to comment on that post and support the tip.  We also welcome respectful challenges to the tips because ‘everything is relative!’  We will, of course, give anyone who submits a tip we publish credit and a link back to their site!

For the newbie parents out there, here’s a tip on diaper changing: use a liner on top of your changing pad/cover for those inevitable messy situations.  It will help you avoid having to wash your changing pad cover 5 times per day.  We had 2 changing pad covers (terry cloth) with our son and 3 with our daughter and let me tell you if you don’t have a liner you will be doing laundry twice a day!  We used PeeWees Disposable Multi-Use Pads and found them to be thin enough to put on top of a changing pad, easy enough to take with us when we were traveling, and very cost effective.  They were so useful that you might even want to check out the 3-pak because you’ll probably need them for at least the first 6 months of baby’s life. 

Aruni
Founder, Babble Soft

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These tips are based on our experiences, as well as those of our friends and readers.  Please always consult with your doctor before implementing any tip that might impact the health of your baby.  If you have a tip you’d like to submit please send an email to blogger(at)babblesoft(dot)com.  Please check the ‘baby tips’ or ‘baby advice’ categories to make sure your tip (in some form or fashion) hasn’t already been posted.  If it has been, feel free to comment on that post and support the tip.  We also welcome respectful challenges to the tips because ‘everything is relative!’  We will, of course, give anyone who submits a tip we publish credit and a link back to their site!