baby nursery bedding – Page 2 – Marisa Meidle's Baby Showers

A safe baby nursery bedding

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. Cushy mattresses are comfortable for babies, but on the other hand, they might be dangerous too.As infants are too weak, when their heads are being laid onto a soft mattress, they might not have the ability to roll over to recover from the dangerous position. Fatal accidents might happen 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. They can easily do a test by pressing one hand onto the bedding to determine it’s strength in withstanding the force applied. The stronger the resistance of the bedding, the better it is.

Bumper pads, that are added in 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.

Infants are weak and vulnerable especially at these times, 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 remove all of them from the crib. The latter being the best method because, though no often, 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 that there are toxic gases in beddings which can harm the baby’s health . They discovered that there are chemical compounds that consists of phosphorous and arsenic which are commonly 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 found that a fungus that frequently grows 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 a new crib set rather than 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 get a new one and select 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.

CPSC on lead poisoning

The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) was formed in the 1970s and for more than 30 years, it has taken the responsibility of safeguarding consumers against the dangers of suffering injuries that results from the use of consumer products. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into the United States law to further strengthen the safety measures required in consumer products.

Most recently, through the law, the Commission has planned to further reduce children’s exposure to lead. Lead poisoning may result in irreversible brain damage, kidney problems and may even be fatal. Towards the end of the 1970s, the problem was so serious, that millions of children in America had been tested that they had elevated blood lead levels that were deemed unhealthy!

The Commission observed the graveness of the situation and have concluded that any children’s product that contains more than 600 parts per million (ppm) of lead in any part of an accessible product would be seen as dangerous. Which means that any children’s product from toys to baby nursery bedding which contains more than 600ppm would be dangerous for children under the CPSIA.

The CPSC has also defined that any person at the age of 12 years or younger would be seen as children under the law and all products that were made with the objective of marketing predominantly to these group of children will have to adhere to it.

This law also applies to all baby nursery bedding, nursery decoration, toys and children’s products that were manufactured before the date of the law that was implemented. The Commission also requires all goods that were manufactured after 90 days since the establishment of the rule to be tested by an accredited third party. This is to assure that the manufacturers comply to the safety regulations that the Commission has implemented.

Futhermore, the Commission has shown their determination in making all products extremely safe for use by intending to drop the limits to 300ppm in August and further reduce it again in 2011 to a level which is seen reasonable according to the technology available by then. However, with the rapid advancement of technology, all toys and baby nursery bedding might contain only traces of lead and would be extremely safe for use in the near future.

Shopping for a baby mattress

When shopping for a baby nursery bedding, many parents do not put too much thoughts into the choosing of mattresses for babies. However there are important points where parents should look out for to ensure the safety and comfort of your precious one.

Most parents usually buy mattresses off the shelf without much thought. When shopping for baby mattresses, many mums and dads have different buying criteria such as price, comfort and size. However, what may look like a bargain, may not be good or safe enough for your child and what is may seem cozy and comfortable for adults may not be seen as the same way your your baby.

The first and foremost criteria that one should consider, size. When one chooses the size, parents must make sure that the size fits the crib or baby nursery bedding that you already own. Many mattress are made in a standard size these days so that should not be a problem, but as the safety of the child is involved, it is better to make sure that the size fits rather than simply assuming.

When there is too big a gap between the crib and the mattress, your baby’s hand might get caught in the gap, and not knowing better, they may hurt themselves as they toss and turn around or result in their feet getting trap when they start to walk.

Parents can make sure that there is no more than one finger spacing between the crib and the mattress. With such a small gap, this would make sure that there is no extra space that would end up injuring your precious child.

Another area is comfort. For adults, a cusy and cozy mattress may nice for a good night’s rest but for babies and toddler, the mattress should not be too soft. This is especially important for newborns. Newborns do not have the strenght to toss and turn around, and by having a firm mattress, it allows the baby to turn over easily as compared to a soft mattress. This is crucial, if your baby has her face down and if the mattress is too soft, causing it to be depressed easily, this may result in difficulty in turning over, it may actually end up in serious consequences.

Parents can make sure that the mattress is hard enough by pushing their hand down into the mattress. The harder to press, the firmer it is, the better the mattress. Of course, the mattress shouldn’t be hard as wooden floor or it would be too uncomfortable for your little one.

Lastly, the price. Many parents find it difficult to decide which material should be the appropriate one. Do not worry, be it foam or coil, it is equally well if it follows the above measures.

So choose wisely when selecting the baby nursery bedding for your hild and it will give your precious baby a good rest through the night!!

Baby cribs and cots

There are numerous websites selling baby nursery bedding, it makes it difficult to choose from the wide variety available. Other than the color and the design, there are many areas that should be considered before selecting the right baby bedding.

Most parents, when shopping for a crib bedding, usually consider the price first. Needless to say, that, of course, is important. It is not really worthwhile is to buy nursery bedding that are too pricey, after all, your child would not be using it forever.

However, parents must learn to weigh the benefits that expensive bedding sets may bring.

Many mid-range baby nursery bedding are made with good quality materials at lower prices. Their designs are still as trendy, allowing parents to choose one that would suit the decoration of the room or simply one that looks beautiful to them.

However, one important factor that most parents forget is the material. The material used to make the bedding is especially important for babies due to the soft and sensitive skin. babies skin gets irritated easily, causing skin complications such as rash and bringing more unwanted problems such as sleepless nights for both the child and the parents. Bedtime can be a very terrible time of the day to look forward to.

Hence, the material used to make the bedding is extremely important. The best ingredient for your baby bedding is cotton. Cotton being soft and comfortable, ensuring that it would not irritate the sensitive baby skin. Try to select products that are 100% cotton, this would make sure that the bedding would be comfortable for the baby to sleep without causing any skin irritation.

Some bedding incorporates wool as part of the whole material which can become a problem for babies. Its inclusion usually makes the material a little scratchy, making your little one feel uncomfortable. For parents, they would not feel or have known about it. However for babies, their sensory skin is unable to withstand the scratchy feeling the wool causes.

Also, when it is fully made of cotton, it is unlikely that it will run out of shape or shrink due to the different expansion and contraction of the different materials. In other words, the baby nursery bedding would be able to last longer and be in better condition till your baby is ready to move on to toddler beds!