7 Tips Every Parent Needs to Know: Bedding advice.

Babies usually have long stretches of sleep time in their early stages of life. This can average up to 14 hours in a day of sleep time. Since sleep makes the baby’s lion’s share of activities, you want to have the Safe Sleep Practices for infants at your fingertips.

Parents need to work on striking a working balance between safety and comfort. You will need to up your game to keep up with such an expansive, yet, at times, inconsistent sleep pattern. Here are a few tips that are all parents should keep close to their hearts for the healthy early life of their infants:

1. Babies should sleep on their back in the cribs

Various researches have revealed that putting your baby to sleep on their back has the effect of reducing the risk of sudden infant death. Sudden infant death occurrences can be attributed to infants lying on their tummies or side, which reduces blood circulation in the body, especially to the brain. Until your baby can roll from tummy to back and vise versa, always put him or her to sleep on their back.

2. Have babies sleep alone in their cribs

Several incidences are on record where adults have suffocated babies by accidentally lying on top of them. To avoid this highly unfortunate circumstance, ensure that your baby sleeps alone in their crib.

3. Keep the baby’s crib free of any loose items.

Items like stuffed animals, pillows, loose bed sheets, and blankets have no place in the baby’s crib. These items can be quite dangerous, posing a risk of suffocation when the baby gets entangled in them. As a parent, you don’t want to walk into a lifeless baby in the crib, that is why you need to ensure a safe environment for your baby.

The baby bedding used on the crib should be tucked under the mattress with large overlaps. Where possible try to use recommended fitted crib sheets. The mattress, on the other hand, should be an exact fit to the crib, to ensure that the baby does not get trapped in between the mattress and the crib.

4. Baby sheets need a weekly change.

Not all dirt can be seen with the naked eye, that’s why you shouldn’t wait for visible stains before cleaning your baby’s beddings. Baby’s need a safe and clean environment, so make it a habit of doing regular cleaning of the baby’s kiddie furnishings like the crib and bedsheets.

5. The best baby material is organic cotton.

Baby blankets and bed sheets made from 100% cotton are softer and kinder on the baby’s skin, compared to all other materials. These materials are free from chemical residues that irritate your baby’s sensitive skin.

6. Use gentle detergent on your baby’s bedding.

Babies’ skin is usually delicate and susceptible to even ‘mild’ household chemicals and detergents. You can avoid putting your child through the trauma of painful allergic skin lesions caused by harsh detergents by opting for milder ones.

7. Check that your baby’s crib is safe, always

Accidents do happen but are avoidable. As a safety measure, ensure that your child’s crib is firm, well fitted and no piece is missing. Ensure that the mattress is tight-fitting, no missing screws and that no loose item is on the crib before placing the baby inside.

At the early stages of their lives, sleep is the best thing a baby is good at, so invest in making them comfortable and keeping them safe. Buy quality, safe and comfortable baby beddings for your bundle of joy.