Baby Care Basics

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. Hence the question, is your baby bedding safe for your child to sleep in?

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 may be nice for babies to sleep in, however they might not be as safe as one might think.As infants are too weak, when their heads are being laid onto a soft mattress, they might not have the strength to turn around and recover from such a dangerous position. Disastrous accidents might happen if no one is around to take care of the baby.

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. They can simply experiment it by pressing one hand onto the bedding to determine it’s strength in withstanding the force applied. The harder it is to press down on the mattress, the better it is.

Another item in crib sets that causes suffocation is bumper pad. 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. Few parents recommend to buy firmer bumper pads while others just don’t use them at all. The second method being the better one because, though no often, there are also cases of strangulation by the 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 damage an infant’s health . Scientists found that there are chemical compounds that consists of phosphorous and arsenic which are commonly used as fire retardants, are being included in mattresses which can be very unsafe for children. 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.

Researchers later found that a fungus that commonly germinates in baby bedding might be one of the reactants which can help 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 sleep in cribs 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. Otherwise, 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.

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