New crib guidelines part of ABC's for resting babies

JOPLIN, Mo. — Making sure your baby is getting a good night’s sleep is as easy as ABC to Kathy Cowley.

“Babies should always sleep alone, on their backs, and in a crib,” said Cowley, manager of the birthing center at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin.

While A and B fall primarily to parents, a federal agency has recently taken steps to regulate C. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last month approved new federal standards for baby cribs that will prohibit the manufacture and sale of drop-side cribs.

The standards will increase testing of cribs’ durability, mattress support strength and hardware such as slat strength. According to consumers groups, they will also improve warnings and labels on cribs to make parents aware of when a crib has been wrongly assembled and when to stop using a crib.

Citing concerns over safety, the commission has recalled more than 11 million cribs since 2007. The commission has also associated at least 32 infant suffocation and strangulation deaths since 2000 to cribs with detaching drop-side rails, with additional deaths resulting from faulty or defective hardware.

The move has been applauded by consumer and safety groups.

“The lack of durability of recently produced cribs is appalling and has put many babies at risk,” said Don Mays, senior director of product safety and technical policy for Consumers Union and its Consumer Reports publication, in a release. “These new regulations will ensure safe sleep environments by raising the bar for the safety and quality of cribs.”

Beginning in June, all cribs manufactured, sold or leased in the United States must comply with the new federal standards. Within two years, child care businesses and hotels must also be in compliance.

Individuals continuing to use old drop-side cribs privately in their homes may continue to do so, but they won’t be able to sell them under the new regulations.

As drop-side cribs fade, there are still guidelines parents should keep in mind when crib-shopping. Look for cribs with slats that are close together. If the opening between slats is wider than 2 3/8 inches, roughly the width of a soda can, then they’re too far apart, Cowley said.

She also said parents should check whether the crib’s paint is lead-based, as can sometimes be the case if it is manufactured outside the United States.

“Otherwise, I think it’s up to you what you’re looking for,” she said.

Dean Lasseter, a pediatrician with Freeman Health System, said parents should take care when choosing a crib for their child.

“Thirty deaths (associated with drop-side cribs), it’s a small number compared to the number of babies who die in car accidents, the number of babies who die from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), but it’s there, and it’s preventable,” he said. “I would select that crib really carefully and not take a chance I don’t need to.”

Once you have a crib, the only items that belong in it are a good mattress with fitted sheets, a blanket and your baby, Cowley said. To lower the baby’s risk of suffocation, avoid decorating the crib with heavy blankets, crib bumpers or pads, pillows and stuffed animals, she said.

“They’re very cute, they’re very nice, but they’re not safe,” she said.

Lasseter said parents shouldn’t be tempted by sleeping with their child, who belongs in a crib or a bassinet. Babies otherwise risk falling off the bed, getting stuck between the mattress and the wall, breathing in the same pocket of air, or being crushed by their parents, he said.

“Never put the baby in bed with the parents,” he said. “The risk for SIDS skyrockets. It’s the most dangerous thing parents can do to their baby.”

Other tips for parents to help their newborn sleep, and possibly reduce the risk of SIDS, include:

~ Place the baby on his or her back, Cowley said. Parents who worry about the child choking should have little cause for concern because babies will instinctively turn their face to the side if they spit up, she said.

~ Develop a bedtime schedule, if possible. “If the parents have a routine, and they can get the baby into the routine, that’s going to help enormously,” Lasseter said.

~ Keep a fan in the room. Circulating the air could help reduce the risk of SIDS and can provide “white noise” to help your baby sleep, Lasseter said.

~ Swaddle the baby, which gives him or her a sense of comfort and closeness, he said.

~ Keep the room temperature at a comfortable level and don’t overdress the baby at nighttime.

Source : http://www.joplinglobe.com/healthandfamily/x1961026537/New-crib-guidelines-part-of-ABC-s-for-resting-babies