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What should go in your baby's cot for safe sleeping?
- Dolly's life with little people
- Feb 23, 2018
- 3 min read
As mentioned in my previous post about safe sleeping, cot bumpers should not be used in a cot. This post tells you what should go in a baby’s cot and why.
Although bedding sets look cute they are in fact dangerous so don’t waste your money buying them.
Instead use the money you would have spent to buy a good quality mattress. It is recommended that each new baby has a new mattress as using a second hand mattress may be linked to an increased risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). A mattress should be flat and kept clean to avoid the breading of bacteria. The mattress should fit the cot properly with no gaps.
On top of the mattress should be a clean fitted cot sheet. Again the sheet needs to fit the size of the mattress properly so that there aren’t any loose bits.
A sleeping bag can be used to put your baby in. These come in a variety of sizes and togs. Again it is important that you have the correct size so that it stays safely in place as intended. It is also important to match the tog to the environment as overheating in babies has also been linked to an increased risk of SIDS.
If for whatever reason you do not get on with sleeping bags/ do not want to use them then a cotton cellular blanket is best. The blanket should be tucked firmly under the mattress to avoid the blankets covering baby’s face. The blanket should be no higher than baby’s armpits. The small holes in the blanket mean that should the blanket come loose and cover baby’s head the baby should still be able to breathe through the holes.
A hat should not be worn to bed as babies regulate their temperature through their head and a hat interferes with this process.
If you want to know if baby is too hot or too cold feel their chest/tummy or back by slipping your hand under their suit and vest and feeling their skin. Don’t feel their forehead as, as mentioned above this may be very warm if they are getting rid of excess heat and therefore isn’t a true indicator of their temperature.
Don’t use fleece blankets as these often make baby too hot and aren’t breathable.
If a blanket is folded each fold counts as an additional layer. If a blanket is folded in half and placed on top of baby that is the equivalent of putting 2 blankets on baby.
Shortly after my son was born, I left my son with my dad at a shopping centre while I quickly ran around a shop child free. When I came back my dad had folded his blanket 3 times so it fitted neatly into the basinet and to prevent it from trailing on the floor and wrapping around the wheels. My poor son had sweat dripping off his forehead and as I counted the folds I realised that my poor baby had been wrapped in the equivalent of 6 blankets!
Your baby should be placed to sleep on their back at the foot of the cot with their feet touching the end of the cot (feet to foot) this should prevent baby from wriggling down under the covers.
The above advice was given to me by midwives and health visitors when I had my babies. Please speak to your health visitor or doctor for current safe sleeping advice.
For more safety advice on sleeping please visit the Lullaby trust.
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