Infants: Sleeping safely
Posted by Babies - 10/06/09 at 04:06 pmThroughout the whole day, babies spend most their time sleeping. They can sleep for up to 16 hours or more in a day, spending up to 3 to 4 hours sleeping during each rest period. Therefore considering the huge amount of time infants sleep, it is important to identify the safety issues when babies go to bed.
Firstly, co-sleeping with your baby is very dangerous. For parents who are heavy sleepers, they might accidently crush or suffocate the baby when they toss and turn carelessly. In addition, babies usually co-sleep together on their parents’ bed, there are heavy quilts and blankets that may carelessly be placed over their face and cause babies to suffocate too.
Looking at all these dangers of co-sleeping, try to let your child sleep in a baby nursery bedding. Sleeping in a crib will have no risks of parents accidently turning onto their babies. Furthermore, there shouldn’t be any adult’s heavy quilts and blankets that may cause the baby to choke while sleeping. Therefore, parents are encouraged to get a baby nursery bedding for your little one to sleep in as it is safer than co-sleeping with the baby’s parents.
The use of blankets, too has also been discouraged by many as they are afraid that the blanket may carelessly cover the baby’s head, however some parents are afraid that their baby may catch a cold at night. In fact, there is a safe way of using a blanket during the baby’s rest. Just make sure that when your child is in the baby nursery bedding, his feet touches the end of the crib and the blanket shouldn’t be higher than his chest. Hence, your baby will not be covered by the blanket so easily and it will be safer for your baby when he sleeps at night.
Another way of sleeping safely is to always let your baby sleep on her back. Infants sleeping on their tummy may expose themselves to possibilities of choking when your baby faces down on the mattress. Babies are too weak to turn over or shift themselves out of a dangerous position. Therefore letting your child sleep on her back in the baby nursery bedding will be the safest option.
Some infants sleep better on their tummy because their heart feels close to something which makes them feel safe and at ease while sleeping. However, it is still not advisable to let your child sleep on her tummy until, maybe when she has the strength to be able to toss and turn around in bed by herself.
When your baby is sleeping, try to let your baby wear light sleep clothing to avoid your baby from “overheating”. The nursery room should be kept at a comfortable temperature so that your baby will feel neither too cold nor warm. If the room is flushed with heat, get a fan to gently cool the area so that your baby will feel comfortable when sleeping.
Look closely at all these points and assess your baby’s sleeping area carefully. Let your baby sleep safely and pleasantly you will be able to sleep well throughout the night too!
