Health News
For many families, a crib for a new baby is handed down through generations.
But in recent years, millions of drop-side cribs have been recalled due to safety hazards. Cribs with a drop-side rail that goes up and down can cause strangulation deaths, as parents of at least 35 babies found out tragically from November 2007 to April 2010.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted last week to forbid the manufacture, sale and resale of drop-side cribs, with the requirement that all cribs must have fixed sides by June 2011. Parents currently using a drop-side crib should check the hardware on the cribs to be sure it is working properly and double check that the crib has not been recalled.
Anthony Caterina, Sinai Hospital pediatrician, applauded the new law. He and his wife, also a pediatrician, are expecting twin girls in 2011.
?We thoroughly researched our options before making a purchase, but other parents may not be aware of the hidden dangers of unsafe cribs,? he says. In addition to the drop-side cribs, older cribs can be unsafe from loose parts.
?Tougher laws are long overdue and will save the lives of countless infants in the future,? Dr. Caterina says.
Tips for making sure a crib is safe include the following. Additional tips can be found from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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Health News
Crib Safety Tips from Sinai Hospital
For many families, a crib for a new baby is handed down through generations.
But in recent years, millions of drop-side cribs have been recalled due to safety hazards. Cribs with a drop-side rail that goes up and down can cause strangulation deaths, as parents of at least 35 babies found out tragically from November 2007 to April 2010.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted last week to forbid the manufacture, sale and resale of drop-side cribs, with the requirement that all cribs must have fixed sides by June 2011. Parents currently using a drop-side crib should check the hardware on the cribs to be sure it is working properly and double check that the crib has not been recalled.
Anthony Caterina, Sinai Hospital pediatrician, applauded the new law. He and his wife, also a pediatrician, are expecting twin girls in 2011.
?We thoroughly researched our options before making a purchase, but other parents may not be aware of the hidden dangers of unsafe cribs,? he says. In addition to the drop-side cribs, older cribs can be unsafe from loose parts.
?Tougher laws are long overdue and will save the lives of countless infants in the future,? Dr. Caterina says.
Tips for making sure a crib is safe include the following. Additional tips can be found from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
- Check for cracked or peeling paint.
- Corner posts should be flush with end panels. Avoid clothing or ribbons on a crib, which can catch on tall corner posts.
- Look for Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) certification.
- The mattress should be the same size as the crib so there are no gaps to trap arms, body, or legs.
- Hanging mobiles or toys should be out of a baby's reach.
- Winter Can Be Risky Time For Infants If 'safe Sleep Practices' Are Not Followed, Health Department Says; Here Are Several Safety Tips
Practicing "safe sleep practices" and creating a safe environment for your baby could mean the difference between life and death during these cold winter months, the state Department for Public Health says in a press release. "Kentucky?s infant mortality...
- Twice As Many Kids Are Killed On Roads And Streets On Halloween As On Any Other Day, But Many Parents Fail To Discuss Safety
Only one-third of parents talk to their children each year about how to stay safe on Halloween, a study released by the Safe Kids Fayette County Program has found, even though on average, twice as many child pedestrians are killed during the holiday than...
- Adoption Update
This week was awesome...we finally got a court date! We travel mid May to meet our boys for the first time. Words can't describe how we are feeling. Micah is now 22 months old and Kai is 4 months old. We often get photos and updates of the boys,...
- No Link Between Vaccines And Autism
This week yet another report showed that a study linking vaccines to autism was fraudulent. The controversy began more than a decade ago. In 1998, British physician Andrew Wakefield published a study indicating that the common MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)...
- Sinai Works With Parents To Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome
Your newborn won?t stop crying. What is your plan? That?s the conversation many nurses at Sinai Hospital are increasingly having with post-partum mothers, and their partners, before the baby goes home. The goal is to reduce the incidence of Shaken Baby...