September is Baby Safety Month, and this year is the 40th anniversary of this important celebration. Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) sponsors Baby Safety Month, which started in 1983. Baby Safety Month’s overall goal is to help educate parents and caregivers on all things to keep your little bundle of joy safe. I’m sure there are many moms that even with experience could benefit from a few safety tips— I know I did! I’ve been a mom for well over a decade, and each year there are new products, new tips and techniques, and just best practices being introduced in general. It’s super important to stay up to date on what research shows is the safest for our babies.
There are many ways that babies need to be kept safe; how they are eating, riding around in a car, even how they sleep and interact in their home are all important. Everything a baby does from the time they are born has to have safety as a priority. Sadly, every year there are countless tragic and unexpected events that take place to cause babies harm or worse. Join families around the world in celebrating by researching new products, educating yourself and others, and being able to spread awareness on social media. I hope these tips will help mamas and soon-to-be mamas continue to keep their babies as safe as possible.
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Safe Sleep:
Providing and having a safe spacefor babies is the best thing you can do for a healthy start in your child’s life. The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a bare crib or bassinet. Make sure to place the cribs, bassinets, and other sleep products away from windows, heaters, blind cords, or anything that can fall onto the baby.
When a baby is in the newborn stage an option could be for you to have the bassinet bedside to help with the baby’s frequent feedings at nighttime. I have room shared with all of my children being bedside in their bassinets the first few months of their lives so I can be up and alert and just a small distance away. If room sharing is not ideal, use monitors to place in their nursery and by their sleeping area. It is mindful to change the distance of how close the monitors are as the babies grow older.
Be mindful of recalls for any of your baby’s sleep products. Recalls occur often, and the manufacturer will be able to handle the recall promptly to make sure the baby is staying safe. Ignoring the recalls can cause harm or accidents with your child.
Car Seat Safety:
With my pregnancy journey, my favorite part was buying our travel system. Car Seats are very important, and they have so many different options and features that will fit you and your baby’s needs. Having it properly set in your vehicle is even more important. When you are about to come home from the hospital, the nurses come down with you to ensure that you have the safety seat secure and are ready to go. The fire department, child birthing classes, hospitals, or even YouTube university can help you make sure you are good to go as far as how to put it in correctly.
Children have to ride rear-facing from the time they are born until they reach the weight and height that is recommended by the manufacturers. This is the same with all child and safety seats, there are maximum weight and height requirements that are important to follow to ensure the safest outcome for your baby.
Be mindful of expiration dates on safety seats. If a car seat or safety seat has been in a crash, depending on the severity of the crash, you may need to replace the car seat. It is important to contact the manufacturer to be sure. There are also many sites that can help inform you whether you need to replace it if it is a minor car accident. It is better to be safe and double check especially if you are using a used safety product.
Baby Proof at Home:
When Babies are starting to become mobile, it is important to make sure your home is “baby-proof.” There are so many hazardous things that could hurt the baby, like cords, cleaning products, choking objects, and more. My friend is a nurse, and she always tells me stories of the craziest objects that end up being swallowed by babies/toddlers. It is important to baby proof your home almost immediately even if you think the baby is not mobile. I even recommend doing it while you are still pregnant.
You can install baby gates on steps, cover unused electrical sockets, put lock enhancers on cabinets where cleaning supplies are stored, and even test the furniture around the house to make sure there will be no accidents due to a fall risk off the furniture.
There are many more important safety tips regarding how to care for your baby and the overall environments your babies are in. However, these would be the top few in my list as far as priority. I’ve had personal friends and colleagues have horrible events take place due to some of these, so it was important to me to highlight these particular ones.
