Sleeping Safety

• Heavy blankets and stuffed animals are a hazard in a crib.baby in the crib image by Tatyana Gladskih from Fotolia.com
  
  Babies spend a lot of time sleeping in their first year. Newborns, who may sleep 16 hours or more each day, need to be able to rest in a safe environment. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in "The Changing Concept of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" (SIDS) affirms that the safest way for an infant to sleep is on her back. Infants who sleep on their stomachs or sides have a higher incidence of SIDS.
  
  Other hazards in the sleeping environment are pillows, heavy blankets and stuffed animals. While parents may want to create a cozy environment for a child, these items can obstruct a baby's breathing and cause suffocation. Because of this factor, the AAP also does not endorse bringing a baby into an adult bed. Excessive bedding and adult bodies make co-sleeping hazardous to an infant.
  When choosing a crib for a baby, parents need to ensure that the bed is up to safety standards, as well. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), cribs should have slats less than 2 3/8 inches apart, and parents should make sure the mattress fits snugly in the crib to avoid entrapment. Parents using used cribs should also check with the CPSC to check whether the crib may have been recalled at some point.
  
  

Water Safety

• Never leave a baby unattended near water.baby girl playing in bathtub image by jedphoto from Fotolia.com
  
  Parents of infants should never leave their child unattended near any body of water. According to Healthy Children, infants are particularly susceptible to danger from drowning in bathtubs and buckets. They recommend that parents are always within an arm's reach of an infant in the bathtub, and that they need to be vigilant about avoiding distractions such as talking on the phone or accomplishing household tasks.
  
  Mobile infants who start exploring the house or yard can drown in a bucket or container with only an inch or two of water in it. All containers should be stored out of the reach of children. Locks can be purchased to prevent infants from playing in, and possibly falling in, the toilet.
  
  For extra protection, parents can contact their local Red Cross for training in CPR and first aid. This ensures that should any incident occur in the home, parents are equipped to respond in a way that will hopefully lead to positive results.
  
  

Keeping Infants Safe Around Stairs

• A gate should always be used to protect an infant from falling down stairs.stairs image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com
  
  Babies who are starting to crawl and explore their environment will often come in contact with stairs. Since infants do not know the danger of falling down the stairs, and will need to learn how to navigate them safely, parents need to install gates to prevent injuries. Kids Health suggests a gate at the top and bottom of every staircase in the house, using a hardware-mounted gate. Pressure-mounted gates can give way and cause a serious fall.
  
  The use of walkers for infants is strongly discouraged since a baby could easily move the device to the stairs and take a dangerous fall. Kids Health suggests using a stationary seat for an infant as an alternative to walkers.
  
  

General Babyproofing of the Home

• Keep all poisonous materials locked and out of reach.glass cleaner image by Randy McKown from Fotolia.com
  
  Once an infant starts sitting independently, parents need to get to work babyproofing the house because she will be on the move soon. Parents can crawl around in their house to see what possible hazards might attract their crawling infant.
  
  Electrical outlets are particularly intriguing to infants, and covers for these can be purchased and installed easily. Keep an eye out for cords that hang down, which a child could cause something to fall down on top of them if pulled on.
  
  Poisonous substances such as cleaning supplies and medications should be placed in a locked cabinet, preferably up high and out of reach. Keep infants out of places such as basements or garages that typically have dangerous substances and objects.
  
  Furniture with sharp corners can cause injury to an infant, and heavy objects such as bookcases or tall dressers could topple on the child if climbed on. Parents need to anchor these objects to the wall, along with stoves and refrigerators that could tip on a child.
  
  

Car Seat Safety

• When leaving home, all infants should be in a rear-facing carseat.yellow car, a honda japanese sport car model image by alma_sacra from Fotolia.com
  
  Having a safe environment for a baby can make life more peaceful and less worrisome. When heading out to the car to leave the home, parents should remember that all infants need to ride in a car seat, in the backseat of the car, facing backwards until they are one year old and 20 inches long. Even if an infant has outgrown his infant car seat, he needs to sit rear-facing in a convertible seat until he reaches that milestone.