Crib Mattress Safety: Everything You Need to Know

Snooze safely with the following tips for sustaining the crib mattress in tip-top state of affairs.

Among the important elements of your nursery is a protected and cozy crib mattress. Not solely will your toddler be spending quite a few time on the mattress, nonetheless a thoughtfully chosen and maintained crib mattress can play an essential perform in stopping sudden toddler demise syndrome (SIDS).

With crib mattresses, safety must on a regular basis be your excessive priority. With so many crib mattress selections accessible in the marketplace, figuring out essential safety points will likely be overwhelming.

Listed beneath are Our Crib Mattress Safety Recommendations!

That may help you make an educated decision in your family members, we evaluation the very best 5 safety points for crib mattresses, serving to ensure your kid’s sleeping setting is as protected and cozy as doable.

Crib Mattress Firmness

Essential safety consideration when selecting a crib mattress is its firmness. In accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics, mom and father ought to decide on a company, flat sleeping flooring for his or her little ones.

While you possibly can be inclined to find a clean and cozy crib mattress in your baby, consultants agree {{that a}} firmer mattress is the safer different for newborns and infants, at least until they will switch (push up, roll, crawl) independently.

Together with lowering the prospect of SIDS, a company crib mattress offers the very best assist in your kid’s rising spine.

How can I inform if my crib mattress is company ample? When your baby is lying on the mattress, it must indent solely minimally (decrease than 1 centimeter). Whilst you press your hand into the mattress beneath the burden of your physique, it must solely indent about 1-2 centimeters (about half an inch). To you, the mattress ought to essentially really feel uncomfortably company.

Will my child be uncomfortable on a company mattress? No, a brand new baby and toddler will possible be utterly cosy on a company mattress. As they develop outdated, nonetheless, the good news is that many crib mattresses will be discovered as twin firmness. This offers you the simplest of every worlds: a company facet for newborns and infants, and a softer facet for the toddler years.

Examples of dual-firmness mattresses embody the favored Avocado, Lullaby Earth, Nook Pure, Babyletto, and Naturepedic, which you will discover out about on our annual round-up of the simplest crib mattresses!

Dimension & Match

One different important safety attribute of a crib mattress is whether or not or not it is appropriately sized in your crib, and that it fits tightly into the crib with none perimeter gaps.

A poorly turning into crib mattress is a safety hazard. Gaps between the mattress edge and the inside perimeter of the crib pose a extreme menace of limbs and totally different physique parts getting caught in gaps, entrapment, and suffocation.

As a rule of thumb (or finger!), you should not be able to match higher than two fingers between the sting of the crib mattress and the crib itself. Decrease than one finger is correct.

You moreover do not want the crib mattress to be too tight throughout the crib because of that will set off buckling of the mattress and an uneven sleeping flooring; it could presumably moreover make it robust to remove the mattress for sheet changes.

In america, crib and crib mattress sizes are standardized, with crib mattresses being at least 27.25″ huge by 51.625″ prolonged, and cribs being about 28″ huge by 52″ prolonged. Standardized sizing ensures mattresses will match snugly throughout the crib.

Not all crib sizes are the similar! The dimensions provided above is for the usual full-size crib. Nonetheless, there are moreover bassinets, mini cribs, midi cribs, and full-size cribs, each with its private crib mattress measurement. Under no circumstances use a crib mattress that is not designed in your explicit crib.

In our experience, the Nestig cribs are utterly sized for lots of the best crib mattresses accessible in the marketplace. As an example, you can examine further regarding the Nestig Cloud Crib proper right here.

Provides, Breathability & Emissions

The three most common crib mattress constructions are innerspring, foam, and webbed polymers.

Innerspring cores normally have metallic springs (the additional springs, the upper the assistance), padding (above, beneath, and between the springs), and a cloth cowl. On the entire, innerspring mattresses current the firmest sleeping flooring, are extraordinarily sturdy, and provide superior assist for a rising toddler.

Foam cores normally use quite a few layers of polyurethane foam, which is product of plastic polymers. Whereas foam core crib mattresses are sometimes cheap and lightweight, as well as they’re sometimes softer than innerspring core mattresses. On the entire, firmer sleeping surfaces are safer, making foam crib mattresses decrease than supreme.

Webbed polymer cores are a recent mattress core risk, using an particularly lightweight internet (like a three-dimensional spider internet) of plastic polymer. Examples embody the Newton crib mattress with its Wovenaire polyethylene core and the HALO Dreamweave with its polymer core. These new cores are sometimes comparatively company, making them supreme for newborns and infants, whereas moreover offering cosy compression for heavier toddlers.

Together with firmness, crib mattress provides moreover have an effect on safety in 3 methods: breathability, temperature regulation, and chemical emissions.

Breathability of crib mattresses is simply optional nonetheless offers peace of ideas for parents nervous about their baby rolling onto their stomachs whereas sleeping. When your crib mattress cowl and core are breathable, the idea is that it could reduce carbon dioxide rebreathing and help your toddler maintain sufficient oxygen consumption within the occasion that they happen to roll onto their stomach. To our data, there is not a scientific information to assist that crib mattress designs have an effect on carbon dioxide rebreathing or change the prospect of SIDS, as evidenced by this paper throughout the journal Pediatrics.

On the entire, foam core crib mattresses and innerspring crib mattresses using foam padding are sometimes a lot much less breathable than webbed polymer cores. On account of there could also be a lot much less airflow, they will moreover get excessively warmth within the summertime. Polyurethane foam cores moreover are inclined to emit further unstable pure compounds (VOCs) than totally different mattress provides, inflicting some concern about nursery air prime quality. A vinyl cowl can compound these concerns. We advocate a breathable core and breathable cowl.

Temperature regulation with crib mattresses is a precedence for parents dwelling in significantly warmth areas. Areas the place temperatures and humidity ranges rise above 80-90 ranges (F) and 50-60% humidity are inclined to set off infants to get uncomfortably scorching (inflicting sweating and/or rashes). A further breathable crib mattress moreover normally offers further airflow and can assist your baby maintain a comfortable temperature all through naps and sleep.

Chemical emissions of crib mattresses are an rising concern for educated mom and father, significantly unstable pure compounds (VOCs). The very last item you want to worry about is whether or not or not your nursery air prime quality is contaminated with gases emitted from chemical substances used all through manufacturing. Inside the temporary time interval, this will exacerbate bronchial bronchial asthma and totally different indicators of irritation; in the long term, VOC exposures have been linked to poor properly being outcomes (see references).

Emissions certifications, much like CertiPUR-US, Greenguard GOLD, and MADE SAFE, are important when choosing a protected crib mattress. Additional on these certifications, beneath.

Safety Certifications

There are two firms to be acquainted with as regards to safety testing and certification of crib mattresses.

The first is a United States authorities firm generally known as the Shopper Product Safety Price (CPSC). The CPSC checks crib mattresses for power, sturdiness, and flammability. Moreover they implement and monitor baby product recollects for defective merchandise.

The second is a private group generally known as the Juvenile Merchandise Producers Affiliation (JPMA). The JPMA certification is completely voluntary nonetheless offers neutral third-party testing to ensure that merchandise meet ASTM (ASTM 2933) necessities for safety, effectivity, and efficiency.

For peace of ideas, we strongly advocate shopping for solely baby merchandise which have the JPMA label.

As regards to further certifications and testing for provides sourcing, chemical emissions, and environmental have an effect on, three predominant certifications are important:

• Greenguard GOLD Certification: This personal (UL Choices) certification course of ensures that merchandise meet quite a few health-based requirements for chemical substances and VOC emissions. They test for over 350 VOCs and full chemical emissions, and solely give GOLD certification for merchandise meeting or exceeding their stringent requirements for indoor air prime quality (decrease than 0.22 parts per million).
• CertiPUR-US Certification: This non-profit group certifies crib mattresses using polyurethane foam, and ensures that they are made with out ozone depleters, chemical flame retardants, heavy metals, formaldehyde, and phthalates regulated by CPSC. Moreover they make sure that they’ve low full VOC emissions (decrease than 0.5 parts per million), though not as little as required for Greenguard GOLD certification.
• MADE SAFE Certification: That is among the many most full certification processes on the earth, testing not only for human properly being concerns however moreover the ecosystem have an effect on of provides, manufacturing, and disposal. Of their certification course of, they test for over 6,500 banned substances, assure manufacturing transparency and disclosure, show display for hazardous chemical substances and VOCs, model bioaccumulation, toxicity (human, aquatic, animal), contamination, and further.

In our opinion, any crib mattress you purchase ought to take care of JPMA certification, Greenguard GOLD certification, and if doable, MADE SAFE certification. We moreover advocate avoiding foam core crib mattresses solely.

Collectively, these certifications will make it simpler to ensure your toddler is sleeping on essentially the most safe mattress doable for provides and emissions.

Repairs & Care

Crib mattresses can worth upwards of $1000, and their protected lifespan is ready by every prime quality and the extent to which you appropriately maintain and care in your mattress.

To appropriately care in your kid’s crib mattress, we advocate doing the subsequent:

• On a regular basis use a tightly fitted sheet and/or mattress cowl. This may occasionally help defend the mattress from harm and stains.
• Clear the mattress cowl (or vacuum its flooring) every week to remove mud and allergens.
• Under no circumstances use harsh chemical substances when cleaning the mattress. Must you desire a deeper cleaning, attempt light dish cleansing cleaning soap and warmth water.
• Rotate the mattress (flip it and rotate it 180 ranges) every 3-6 months to ensure even placed on.
• Adjust to the producer’s instructions for further care. As an example, you can wash the core of the Newton crib mattress in your bathe!

Accurately caring for the crib mattress will maintain your baby (and your subsequent baby!) protected and cozy for a couple of years to return!

Conclusions

The precise crib mattress will possible be protected, cosy, high quality, versatile, and offered at a reasonable worth.

Safety is a excessive priority when discovering a crib mattress, and you may wish to make sure that it has the right firmness in your child’s age and stage of enchancment, a snug match into the crib, high quality and breathable provides with low emissions, safety certifications (at least JPMA and Greenguard GOLD), and proper care and maintenance.

Lastly, you’ll need to grasp that even essentially the most safe crib mattress and setting are insufficient in case you aren’t appropriately positioning your baby: on a regular basis put your baby on his or her once more to sleep, and certainly not put them on their stomach or facet!

References

Shopper Product Safety Price: Crib Safety Recommendations

American Academy of Pediatrics: AAP Protection on Safe Sleep

Juvenile Merchandise Producers Affiliation JPMA Certification Program

Carbon Dioxide Rebreathing in Passive and Vigorous Crib Mattresses and SIDS Hazard

Nicely being Hazards of VOCs as Indoor Air Air pollution

Greenguard GOLD Certification for VOCs and Chemical Emissions