Cribs
- Look for a baby mattress with holes that allows air to circulate, to prevent suffocation.
- Firm mattresses are next safest. But avoid a soft mattress.
- Children younger than 1 year should not sleep with pillows.
- Avoid lying baby face-down on thick bedding like a duvet.
- When covering or wrapping baby in sheets and blankets, be sure she can breath easily.
- Suspended crib-mattresses should be propped up from underneath. Snugly stacked milk crates make good props.
- When buying a crib or bed, look for places where a little head or limbs could be pinched or trapped – for instance between a mattress and its frame, or between crib bars.
- If you get an older crib, make sure it is solid. If it has been painted, strip and repaint it with lead-free paint.
- Once a child is old enough to stand, keep toys like activity centres out their crib. Toys have been known to act as a helping step out of the crib and onto the floor – often head
Rocking cradles
- Rocking cradles can be great for soothing a child, but they shouldn’t be used once the child can push herself up on her arms, or is able to roll-over, (which can be as early as 3 months). By this early stage she could easily topple herself over.
- Keep a rocker on the ground, never on a table, bed or dresser.
- If the baby falls asleep in the rocker, put wedges under the legs to stop further rocking.
- No matter what, never leave a child unattended in a rocker.
Beds and bunk beds
- Avoid bunk beds. But if you need to have one, use adequately high guard rails to stop a child from rolling out of bed.Children under 6 years of age should not be allowed to sleep in the upper bunk.
- The child’s bed should be as close to the ground as possible.
- Don’t let pets share the child’s bed.