Crib Safety Standards

For Portable Cribs, Travel Cribs And Playpens

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Check Any Portable Crib You Intend To Buy Against These Poratable Crib Safety Standards. A Portable Crib Will Keep Your Baby Happy While You Travel, But They Can Be Dangerous...

The portable crib safety guidelines on this page have been provided to give you peace of mind when you lay your little one down to sleep.

Cribs that do not meet the standards for infant safety have been associated with strangulation, laceration, amputation, entrapment, suffocation, falling and SIDS. Not what you want for your precious newborn!

So check any portable crib, travel crib or playpen that you intend to buy or use against the standards for infant safety below. You'll be making sure your little one is in safe hands when yours can't be there...

{Graco Pack 'n Play}

{Graco Pack 'n Play}

Crib Safety Standards

These basic crib safety standards apply to portable cribs, travel cribs and playpens. (For standard baby crib safety standards click here.)

Many portable crib accidents can be prevented by careful attention to detail during setup and use. Improper setup can cause the baby bed to collapse resulting in injury or, heaven forbid, death to your baby.

Consider how fragile your newborn baby is everytime you lay her down to sleep and follow these guidelines...

Make sure that the crib has top rails that will automatically lock when lifted into the normal use position.
Wooden portable cribs or playpens should have slats spaced no more than 2 3/8 inches apart. A bigger gap than this can allow your baby's head to slip through, presenting a risk of strangulation.
The top rail cover should have no tears or holes. Teething babies can swallow pieces of fabric and choke. Yep - unfortunately, the dangers are everywhere!

Rotating Hinges

Check that the crib does not have a rotating hinge in the center of the top rails. (Rotating hinges have caused deaths when the top rails have collapsed and formed an acute 'V' shape that entrapped the child's neck.)

Several brands of this type of baby crib have been recalled. See our small crib recalls report here.

Never leave the drop-side of a mesh baby crib in the down position. This has resulted in deaths in the past.

Always set the crib up correctly. Improper setup can cause the crib to collapse resulting in injury or death to your baby. Make sure that all caregivers and babysitters know how to set up the crib.
Stop using your portable crib, travel crib or playpen before your baby is able to release the locking devices and collapse it.
Always send in the product registration card that comes with every new baby crib. By returning the card, you ensure you'll be notified if your crib is recalled.
Check our small crib recall page for all the latest portable crib recalls news.

In addition to checking your baby crib against the above standards for portable crib safety, look for a crib or playpen with JPMA certification.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) certifies baby cribs that meet, or exceed, voluntary safety standards issued by the American Society for Testing and Materials. These standards are stricter and safer than the mandatory baby crib safety standards promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

That takes care of the main portable crib safety issues. In addition there are many other infant safety factors that contribute to your baby's sleeping environment such as:

Where the crib is placed in the baby nursery room.
The crib mattress.
The crib bedding.
The temperature of the baby nursery.
How you put your baby down to sleep.

All of these infant safety factors are important for the well-being of your baby, but there are far too many to list them all here. The best way to make sure you have everything covered is to use a nursery safety checklist when you are setting up your baby nursery.

I urge you to take baby nursery and crib safety seriously and give your delicate, little newborn the environment she deserves so that she can sleep safely.

There are far more baby nursery safety issues than those covered above.

The best way to make sure you have everything covered is to use a nursery safety checklist when you are setting up your nursery.

For a complete checklist of precautions you need to take in the nursery to protect your baby click here...

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Disclaimer:

The above baby crib safety standards are presented by Creative Baby Nursery Rooms for the purpose of educating mothers about baby crib safety issues.

This information is accurate to the best of our knowledge but we make no guarantees in this regard.

We believe that the standards for infant safety in the crib provided on this site can help prevent baby crib accidents, however, an infant's safety is the responsibility of its caregiver alone.

Creative Baby Nursery Rooms accepts no responsibility for any baby crib accident, which may occur as a result of any information on this site.

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