Health Tip: Crib Mattress Safety
When picking out baby's crib, you must make sure you've chosen a mattress that's safe.
The mattress must fit snugly inside the crib, says the U.S. National Safety Council. If two adult fingers can fit between the sides of the crib and the mattress, the mattress is too small for the crib.
Never attempt to protect baby's mattress with plastic, such as with a mattress cover or plastic bag of any type. Those materials can stick to an infant's face and pose a suffocation hazard.
Make sure that the mattress is flat and firm, and not too soft. Also, to further reduce the risk of suffocation, don't place soft blankets or pillows beneath your child, the council advises.
Health Tip: Signs That Baby Is in Pain
Young infants may cry a lot. And new parents may not know exactly what's wrong.
The University of Michigan Health System lists these warning signs that your new baby may be in pain:
- A more insistent cry that lasts longer than usual, or a cry that's higher in pitch.
- Silence doesn't always mean baby is fine. Very sick or premature babies may not have the energy to cry.
- Making unusual faces, such as wrinkling the brow, squeezing eyes closed, getting deep creases around the nose, grimacing or holding the mouth open.
- Stiff or tense posture, with limbs completely stretched out or pulled tight into the body. Babies may also wiggle or squirm, or be "floppy" as if they've lost muscle tone.
- Fussiness or irritability that can't be soothed or comforted.
- Not eating or not sleeping.
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