SafeTips
Cribs

• Don’t position the crib beside a window. Children can get entangled in the cords on drapes of blinds. Window screens aren’t designed to keep people in.
• Don’t buy an antique crib with decorative cutouts (on the headboard or footboard) or fancy corner posts.
• Older cribs may have been painted with lead-based paint. If you need help identifying or removing lead paint, you can call the National Safety Council's National Lead Information Center at 800-424-5323.
• The slats should be no more than 2-3/8 inches apart, so that an infant won’t get his or her head stuck between them. This safety standard applies to cribs made after 1974.
• The corner posts should be the same height as the end panels or less than 1/16 of an inch higher than the end panels.
• The top rails of crib sides, in their raised position, should be at least 26 inches above the top of the mattress support at its lowest position.
• As soon as the infant can pull himself or herself to a standing position, set and keep the mattress at its lowest position. Stop using the crib once the height of the top rails is less than three-fourths of the child's height.
• The mattress should fit snugly next to the crib so that there is no gap between it and the sides. If you can put two fingers between the mattress and the crib, replace the mattress with one that fits the frame.
• Put your baby to sleep on his or her back or side in a crib with a firm, flat mattress and no soft bedding underneath.
• You want to keep your child from being able to release the side of the crib. Modern crib side-releases require two separate actions, one of which requires 10 pounds of force, in order to release the catch or locks. This design keeps the child from accidentally or purposely releasing the crib side.
• Check crib hardware, including the mattress supports, for pieces that are unattached, , broken, bent or loose.
• Interactive or decorative devices (such as mobiles) that hang over a crib should be removed when children are five months old or when they can push themselves up onto their hands and knees, or can pull themselves up.
• Don’t put pillows, large stuffed animals or toys in the crib. They can be suffocation hazards, or kids can climb up on them.
• Avoid loose or oversized sheets in babies' cribs. Since 1984, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has recorded the deaths of 17 babies (most under 12 months old) who suffocated or strangled when they became entangled in sheets in their cribs or beds.
• Pay attention to this warning label on crib sheets: "Prevent suffocation or entanglement. Never use crib sheet unless it fits securely on crib mattress." Make sure the crib sheet fits snugly on a crib mattress and overlaps the mattress so it cannot be dislodged by pulling on the corner of the sheet.
• Don’t use an adult sheet on a crib mattress.

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