Children's Health Newborns and Toddlers

Making the Nursery Safe for Your Baby

Summary & Participants

The nursery can be a dangerous place for baby. It's up to parents to make it a safe haven.

Medically Reviewed On: August 07, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: It’s up to parents to make the nursery a safe haven for children. The crib is a good place to start.

Michael Kelley, Owner, Baby Safe: First thing we want to check is make sure that these bars are the right distance apart. These are 2 1/4. Anything up to 2 1/2 inches is fine. If the space is too wide, you don't want the body falling through and then the head stopping.

ANNOUNCER: Where you place the crib is also critical.

Michael Kelley, Owner, Baby Safe: Think about windows that are near the crib. Have you just elevated your child up high enough to actually climb out of a window while you think they're safe in the crib? Are there window cords way too close to the crib that the child can play with when they get older?

ANNOUNCER: Don’t forget to monitor what’s in the crib.

Michael Kelley, Owner, Baby Safe: You want the mattress right up against the slats, no little spaces for fingers and toes to fall into and things like that. With a child your age, it's not as big of a concern, but, with a newborn, especially, you want to worry about blankets and stuffed animals. We don't want to have a lot of things in the crib with the newborn.

ANNOUNCER: Making sure the other furniture doesn’t present a hazard is also key. Experts recommend anchoring things like dressers and bookcases in the nursery to the wall.

Michael Kelley, Owner, Baby Safe: Anything that's taller than it is wide has a potential to tip over and that can be aggravated by opening the drawers and standing on them, which children love to do. Latch the drawers and doors, bracket it to the wall, simple things like that'll take care of that problem for you.

ANNOUNCER: Even choosing a toy box becomes a safety issue.

Michael Kelley, Owner, Baby Safe: As far as toy boxes go, we like to recommend things without covers on 'em. Less chance of them getting trapped inside. Things are easy to remove and there's no cover to come down and hurt him.

ANNOUNCER: Experts say your best safety product is a watchful eye.

Michael Kelley, Owner, Baby Safe: If you're watching them, you've cut down their chances of being hurt by 1000%.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily.