News Moms Need

I love watching my little girl sleep in her crib! She looks like an angel, all peaceful and quiet – nothing like the silly, giggly goose she is when she’s awake.

When we first set her crib up and laid out all the crib bedding, I couldn’t wait to see how it would brighten up her room. But I wasn’t quite sure about the bumper. It looked so cute, but was it safe?

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has new sleep safety guidelines for baby and now says a big fat NO to crib bumpers.  The AAP says loose bedding, like crib bumpers, and soft objects, like stuffed animals or pillows, put babies at risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), suffocation and strangulation.

The AAP guidelines highlight other ways to reduce the risk of SIDS, like:
• Put your baby to sleep on her back.
• Use a firm crib mattress.
• Keep soft objects and loose bedding out of the crib.
• Have your baby sleep in her crib in your room.
• Offer your baby a pacifier at night and during nap times.
• Avoid overheating your baby. Overbundling or using too many layers can overheat your baby.
• Breastfeed. Breastfeeding has shown to lessen the risk of SIDS.
• Don’t smoke, use drugs or drink alcohol.

I read about a tragic heat-related accident in the news a few years ago and wrote a post about it. The hellacious heat that has been baking the entire country this past week compels me to share my thoughts once again.
 
Many youngsters are accidentally killed by being left in cars during peak summer months. It takes very little time for a car to become an oven in the hot summer sun. Children can die from the physical stress of heat exposure. These accidents usually happen to otherwise responsible, educated, well-intentioned parents or care providers and not careless slackers. I bring this up not to enter into the “good parent” vs “bad parent” debate, but rather to point out how important it is to be extra aware of exactly where you little ones are at this time of year.
 
We’re all way too busy, overly stressed, usually tired… but we need to pay strict attention. Here are some suggestions for making sure this tragedy doesn’t happen in your family:
• Keep your child’s snowsuit (or something else unusually noticable) in her car seat when she is not in it. When your child is in the car, put the snowsuit in the front seat next to you. It will look odd and remind you that she is in the back.
• When you get in the car, put your purse, briefcase, backpack, whatever you carry in the back seat. When you open the door to take it out, you’ll take the baby with you.
• Keep a pacifier in the car and put it over your keychain whenever you drive with your child. It will remind you when you turn off the engine to take the quiet, sleeping baby with you.
• Just as you have learned to put on your seatbelt every time you get in the car, train yourself when you get out to walk around the car and look in the back windows, or open and shut every door of the car if your windows are tinted dark.
• Create a checklist to give to grandparents and babysitters and make distributing it to those who drive standard operating procedure in your family.

What other suggestions do you have?