Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Ideal Sleeping Positions of Babies in the Bassinets

!±8± Ideal Sleeping Positions of Babies in the Bassinets

Bassinets are used for sleeping by newborns and young infants until they are about 4-6 months of age. Once babies are able to roll over by themselves, at three or four months of age, it is no longer safe for the baby to be left in a bassinet as they could tip themselves out, so they must use a full size crib. It is a common concern for the mother to know how to safely lay the baby down in the bassinet for sleep. In the past American pediatricians advised the mothers to put the baby on their stomachs while putting them to sleep. In the light of a number of studies conducted in the early 1990s, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) changed its recommendation to instruct new parents to place babies to sleep on their backs or sides in 1992.

In 1994, the U.S. government started a campaign, called the "Back to Sleep" campaign, to encourage back sleeping, and current recommendations call for back sleeping only. The previous notion that sleeping on the stomach will protect the babies in-case they vomit stomach contents and aspirate into lung causing suffocation, was found to be not safe, instead prone sleeping position has been found to be associated with increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Since the recommendation of back sleeping was introduced by AAP in 1992, the incidence of SIDS has gone down more than 40% in USA. The "Back to Sleep" campaign has helped to increase the number of babies being put to sleep on their backs from 25 percent to 70 percent from 1993 to 2007. Among African-Americans and Hispanics, the rates of back-sleeping are lower and the rates of SIDS is higher than the national averages, more education efforts are needed to educate baby caregivers about safe baby sleeping positions.

National Institute of Health sponsored studies conducted by pediatricians have shown that healthy babies are not at increased risk of vomiting and aspirating when put to sleep on their back unless they have other medical problems. Some parents are concerned that when babies roll over on to their stomach, they may suffocate. The danger of SIDS is highest before 4 months of age, when babies cannot roll over by themselves. Pediatricians generally assure new parents that rolling over onto the stomach is not a major concern, since a baby who can roll over can also push himself out of an unsafe position where he might suffocate.


Ideal Sleeping Positions of Babies in the Bassinets

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Saturday, December 10, 2011

Chapter 074-077 - Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Chapters 74-77. Classic Literature VideoBook with synchronized text, interactive transcript, and closed captions in multiple languages. Audio courtesy of Librivox. Read by Stewart Wills. Playlist for Moby Dick by Herman Melville: www.youtube.com

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Evolution of Safety Standards For Baby Cribs

!±8± Evolution of Safety Standards For Baby Cribs

A crib is a baby's bed with high, often slatted, often movable sides, suitable for a child who has outgrown a cradle or bassinet. When a young infant starts rolling over at approximately 3 to 4 months of age, the infant has outgrown the bassinet and needs a larger infant bed with better safety. Safety of a crib is more important than its looks. A brief account of evolution of safety standards for cribs in US is presented in this report.

No safety regulations were in force for building cribs before 1974 in the US. In 1974 laws were passed for mandatory safety standards to be followed by crib manufacturers. This was the result of a number of unfortunate injuries and deaths attributed to faulty design and lack of safety standards associated with the cribs at that time. US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) imposes the safety laws.

The Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association (JPMA) was born in 1959 and obtained its charter in 1962. JPMA is recognized as an organization dedicated to enhancing children's product safety. JPMA has developed a certification program that demands quality, safety and functionality. ASTM International, originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), was formed over a century ago, is currently one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world-a source for technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services. ASTM F1169-09 pertains to the latest safety standard of a full size baby crib. ASTM F1169-09 standards ensure structural integrity and design requirements addressing entanglement on corner post extensions. It requires the manufacturers to provide warning labels and instructional material for full-size baby cribs. Fully-furnished cribs are tested on, and need to conform to the following test requirements: mattress support system vertical impact properties; drop and stationary side (static and cyclic) properties; crib side spindle/slat torque properties; drop and folding side latch properties; and plastic teething rail properties.

In August of 1995 CPSC reported that used cribs are responsible for about 50 infant deaths a year. The report also said that: cribs accounted for more deaths of infants than any other nursery item, virtually all the reported victims were under age 2 and about 3/4th of the victims were under 1 year of age, incidents occurred mostly in the child's home, frequently infants strangled or suffocated when they became trapped in the crib side or end that had separated from the rest of the crib because of loose or missing hardware. Some infants also became trapped between undersized mattresses and the side of the crib, in gaps created by missing or improperly attached mattress supports, or in areas between broken or improperly spaced slats. Some infants strangled when clothing or items around their neck became entangled on the crib corner posts or crib hardware. Most of the of cribs involved in these incidents were previously owned or used. They were "hand-me-downs" gifts from friends and relatives or by purchasing them at yard sales, flea markets, and used furniture stores. Infant deaths in cribs have declined from an estimated 150 to 200 a year to about 50 since the safety standards have been set forth in 1974.

CPSC currently recommends that cribs meet the following safety guidelines:

1. No missing, loose, broken, or improperly installed screws, brackets, or other loose hardware on the crib or the mattress support.
2. No more than 23/8 inches between crib slats so a baby's body cannot pass through the slats. If a soda can fits easily through the slats on a crib, the spaces between the slats are too wide.
3. A firm snug-fitting mattress so a baby cannot get trapped between the mattress and the side of the crib.
4. No corner posts over 1/16 of an inch above the end panels (unless they are over 16 inches high for a canopy) so baby cannot catch clothing and strangle.
5. No cutout areas on the headboard or footboard so a baby's head cannot get trapped.
6. A mattress support that does not easily pull apart from the corner posts so a baby cannot get trapped between the mattress and crib.
7. No cracked or peeling paint to prevent lead poisoning. 8. No splinters or rough edges.

JPMA certifies the cribs that meet the safety criteria of the CPSC and the voluntary safety standards of the ASTM. It is important to use a well-fitted mattress for your baby's crib. The standard size of a crib mattress is approximately 515/8 inches by 271/4 inches. A standard crib mattress will fit new standard crib, but may not fit an older crib made before 1974. Buy a standard size crib that is JPMA certified with a standard size mattress for your baby.


Evolution of Safety Standards For Baby Cribs

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