Posted by Stefanie Zucker on October 24, 2010 · 1 Comment
We all know that new parents cannot leave a hospital with a newborn baby unless they have a safe car seat. As of this week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 
the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Keeping Babies Safe (KBS) and NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital are collaborating to educate new and expectant parents and caregivers on crib safety before they leave the hospital or after when they are visiting their pediatrician’s office. A new video called “Safe Sleep for Babies” demonstrates how to avoid suffocation, strangulation and entrapment in cribs, bassinets and play yards.
According to the CPSC press release: “This education effort is part of CPSC’s Safe Sleep Initiative, a multi-pronged effort aimed at reducing deaths and injuries associated with unsafe sleep environments. In addition to this education effort, CPSC’s Safe Sleep Initiative includes the development of new crib standards, warnings about drop-side cribs, sleep positioners, and infant slings, and the recall of millions of cribs in the past five years.”
In order to create a safe sleep environment for your baby, the video urges parents and caregivers to follow these crib safety tips below:
- Place infants to sleep on their backs
- Use a firm, tight-fitting mattress
- Never use extra padding, blankets or pillows under baby
- Remove pillows or thick comforters
- Do not use positioning devices – they are not necessary and can be deadly
- Regularly check cribs for loose, missing or broken parts or slats
- Do not try to fix a broken crib
- Place cribs or playpens away from windows and window covering cords to avoid fall and strangulation hazards
- Place baby monitor cords away from cribs or playpens to avoid strangulation
The “safe sleep” video will be distributed to hospitals nationwide and can also be viewed online.
For additional information on drop-side crib recalls, please go to www.cpsc.gov
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