Over 6000 cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are reported each year, and more than 900 of these are due to babies’ soft baby bedding. That brings to mind the question, is your baby bedding safe?
Suffocation can occur with the use of soft baby bedding, particularly when baby is on her belly and her head depresses the mattress. You may think a soft mattress is more comfortable for your little one, but if it is too soft, it may not be safe. 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.
To avoid accidents and fatalities, it is best to choose crib bedding and mattresses which are firm and not easily depressed under weight, even the light weight of a baby. You can assess the strength of a mattress with the simple test of pressing one hand down on the mattress and guaging the resistance to the force applied. A mattress with the strongest resistance is is best.
The crib is where babies should be safe, but too many times parents do not realize the danger they are in when they are in their cribs. Bumper pads are carelessly added in the crib without thinking that they may suffocate a baby if it will totally cover a baby’s face.
Parents should have care and precaution because infants are vulnerable and weak during this period. When babies are pressed between the bumper pads and another object and some of the people recommend to buy firmer bumper pads while others just remove all of them from the crib and the latter being the best method because, though rare, there are also cases of strangulation by the strings of the bumper pads and suffocation.
Another danger to the baby’s well-being are toxic gases, detected inside of mattresses by researchers. Some researchers have found that phosphorus and arsenic which are generally used as fire retardants, are added to mattresses which can be very harmful. The chemical compounds present in the mattress when reacts with certain material, then they release toxic gases which is very dangerous for the baby, if the baby inhales a large amount of it while sleeping.
Scientists have since found, however, that a frequently occurring fungus in baby bedding may be one of the reactants which is an aid in releasing these toxic fumes. 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. Because infants only sleep in cribs for a short period of time, parents may be tempted to reuse old bedding. However, to avoid the existence of such fungus, this should not be the case. 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 crib bedding sets available (one of my favorites is the Maya baby bedding set by Trend Lab), so there is no need to sacrifice style for safety.
Using these guidelines, it should be easy for a parent to determine if their baby’s nursery bedding is safe. All the parents can sleep nicely in the night without any worries when they choose a safe bedding for their babies, if they did this their babies sound and a safe sleep.
