From the time you find out you’re pregnant, keeping your tiny miracle safe is one of the top concerns on your mind. That doesn’t stop once your baby makes their arrival, now it’s just a little more of a challenge. Can we just baby proof the world and wrap our babies in bubble wrap until they’re a little older?! I wish it was that easy, but this article will help by going over some important tips to keep your little darling safe.
Car Seat Safety
This is one of the first things you will run into after the baby is born. When you pick out a car seat, research the safety features and make sure that the seat meets all the guidelines established by the National Highway Traffic Administration. When installing the car seat, if you are unsure, you can have it checked by your local fire department, or a CPST (Certified Child Passenger Technician). Please note that keeping your precious cargo rear facing for as long as the car seat allows is the best practice, but your child must remain rear facing until at least two years old.
Handling
Your baby is new and fragile. Ensure that you and others are washing your hands before handling the baby, especially after being out in public. This lessens a baby's exposure to germs while they are still building an immune system. When holding your child, make sure you are supporting the head and neck.
Safe Sleep Practice
When it’s time to sing a lullaby and rock your bundle of joy to sleep, make sure you are placing them on their back, in an empty crib with a firm mattress. Your baby should share a room with you for at least six months, but a year is ideal. Babies sleeping in close proximity to their mother can more easily regulate their breathing and even their blood pressure! What's more, sleeping in the same room as the parents, who will inevitably make noise in their sleep, helps the baby to stay in a lighter sleep. This is good because it can help prevent SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Many parents worry about their child sticking their legs through the bars of the cribs and injuring themselves, so they buy crib bumpers. Parents should not buy crib bumpers anymore, because recent studies show that they are more of a strangulation hazard than anything.
Safe Sleep 7
While discouraged by some pediatricians, bed sharing is something that some parents practice. Instead of simply discouraging it, knowing some parents will do so anyway, and possibly in an unsafe manner, it’s best to be educated about how to safely bedshare. In order to bedshare, parents need to be non-smoking and sober. Babies should be positioned at the mother’s breast. This step is to ensure the baby is not propped up on a pillow or mom’s arm. This also helps mom to sleep in something called the “cuddle curl” which is a naturally protective sleep position. The baby must still be laid on their back, and their clothes should be light. Body heat from the parents will help keep the baby warm. Parents need to make sure their bed is not too soft. As your baby learns to roll, they can suffocate on too soft of a mattress. Your bed should be bare. No blankets or pillows around the baby. Parents who are choosing to bedshare should dress themselves warmly, so they do not need a blanket. Lastly, to follow safe sleep 7, make sure that there are no cords within the reach of the baby, and any gaps where the baby could get stuck are filled. Pediatricians will strongly suggest babies sleep in their cribs, but safe sleep 7 is designed to provide guidelines for parents who will co sleep anyway. (Smith-Garcia, D. (2021, May 28). Understanding safe sleep 7 guidelines about co-sleeping with your baby. Healthline).
Food Safety
For quite a while, your baby will only be drinking formula or breast milk. If your child drinks from a bottle, never prop the bottle and leave the baby unattended. This is a choking hazard; it can cause babies to drink too much too fast, resulting in gas and a bellyache.
As your sweet baby grows, they will begin eating solids. You should wait for your pediatrician to give you the go ahead, which usually happens around four months, as long as your child has good head control. When feeding your child anything that has been cooked or warmed, make sure it is lukewarm when given to your child. If you use baby food jars, do not spoon feed directly from the jar if your baby isn’t going to consume the whole thing. Bacteria from their saliva can grow in the jar.
When your child is old enough to eat solids rather than purées, make sure everything is properly cut up. Anything that resembles a circle should be quartered, as it is otherwise the perfect shape and size to block the airway should your child choke. If you are unsure as to how certain foods should be served to your child, there are many resources online that can show you the proper way to cut and serve food. As for allergens, consult your pediatrician as to the proper time to introduce them. Some foods are scarier than others, such as peanut butter. When introducing peanut butter to my daughter, I rubbed some on her ankle to check for a skin reaction first. Oftentimes, if a child has an allergy, they will have a skin reaction when coming into contact with the food.
As you leave the hospital with your little bundle in tow, it’s hard not to feel a little scared. How are you going to protect them now that they aren’t inside of you? Hopefully, the tips in this article have given you some peace of mind. Also, remember, a parent’s intuition is strong. Trust it. It will get easier as time goes on. Before you know it, you’ll be a pro.