Dear Mr. Dad: My year-old child has begun to climb out of the crib at night. How do I keep her safe?

Start by thinking about her environment in larger and larger circles, from the crib to the door. First, the crib. There get rid of all those bumpers (those oh-so-cute fabric pads that used to protect your baby from banging her head against the inside of the crib). Bumpers make great stepping stones for climbers. Also, take all those big stuffed animals, pillows, and heavy comforters out of the crib. These items were dangerous as suffocation hazards when your baby was small. Now that she’s bigger, they’re tickets to freedom.

Start by explaining to your child that this is her very own, safe, special bed, and that she can sleep there all night, just like Mommy and Daddy do in their bed. Then, if you haven’t done it already, adjust the crib’s mattress so it’s at the setting closest to the floor. If the lower mattress and lack of climbing materials still don’t prevent escape, you have a few options.

You might consider buying one of the commercially available safety nets that fit over the top of the crib like a large dome. These nets always seem a little like you’re imprisoning your child, but they’re a temporary solution (they’re also excellent for keeping roaming pets out of the crib).

If safety nets aren’t your style, consider installing a gate across her doorway or using a doorknob safety cover that your child won’t be able to open. If you go this route, though, be absolutely sure that your child’s room is completely childproofed.

As your child approaches two, she’ll begin associating climbing and jumping with the possibility of falling, and may become more cautious on her own. You can help the process along by reminding her—“Remember how you fell down and bumped your head and cried?”

Whatever you do, don’t just give up and put pillows around the crib, as some people do. Because pillows can shift around and expose the bare floor, this is not a good long-term solution.

The next step is a “big girl bed,” which can be a mattress on the floor or a twin bed. The twin bed should be pushed against the wall, with a bed rail on the outside. This all applies until it is time for potty learning, when the world gets even bigger!

About the Author:
Armin Brott, hailed by Time as “the superdad’s superdad,” has written or co-written six critically acclaimed books on fatherhood, including the newly released second edition of Fathering Your Toddler: A Dad’s Guide to the Second and Third Years. His articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, American Baby, Parenting, Child, Men’s Health, The Washington Post among others. Armin is an experienced radio and TV guest, and has appeared on Today, CBS Overnight, Fox News, and Politically Incorrect. He’s the host of “Positive Parenting,” a weekly radio program in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit Armin at www.mrdad.com.

Once you have selected the best baby crib for you new baby, there are several issues to be aware of that will help you to use your new baby crib safely over time. This article reviews the important safety issues involved in safely using your new baby crib.

Where to Put Your Baby Crib: Location, Location, and Location
Carefully choose a location for your baby’s crib. It is best to avoid placing the baby crib near any windows, drapery fixtures, or furniture. The baby crib should be at least 3 feet from any window with drapery or blinds. If you have drapery cords hanging down, be sure to tie them up or cut them in half. They are a huge safety hazard for little ones. For more information on making your windows safe for children, please visit the Window Covering Safety Council website at www.windowcoverings.org. They will provide free cord-repair kits that will make your windows safe. You may also reach them toll at 1-800-506-4636. As your baby gets older, it is important to make sure that the baby crib is at least 1 foot away from any furniture or walls. The danger is that your toddler could climb out of the baby crib and get wedged in the space between the baby crib and the furniture or wall.

Using Crib Bedding Safely: The Bumper Pad Debate
There seems to be some debate about crib bedding in terms of using bumper pads. Some believe that this type of crib bedding poses a suffocation and choking hazard. Others recommend bumper pads because they prevent your baby from sticking an arm or leg through the railings. This will not become an issue until around 4 months of age. If you decide to use a bumper pads, follow these simple guidelines to make sure that you are using the bumper pads safely.

1. Make sure the bumper pad fits around the entire inside of the baby crib. There should be no area inside of the baby crib where the baby could wedge his head between the bumper and the inside of the baby crib.
2. If the bumper pad ties onto a standard baby crib, it should have a tie for each of the four corners and a tie in the middle of each long side. Ideally, the bumper pad should tie at the top and bottom edge. After securely tying the bumper pad to the baby crib, trim off the excess strings. They can pose a potential safety and choking hazard. Be sure to check to make sure it remains securely tied to the baby crib. Once your child can pull up to a standing position, it is time to remove the bumper pad. Your child could use it to try to climb out of the baby crib.

Say “No” to fluffy Crib Bedding
Even though it is tempting to put fluffy crib bedding, pillows and stuffed toys in the baby crib, it is important that you remove these items when you put your baby in the baby crib. An infant can suffocate on fluffy crib bedding like quilts and sheepskin as well as from stuffed toys and pillows. These products may cause infants to re-breathe exhaled air and suffocate. To prevent deaths from soft crib bedding, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) recommends the following:

1. Place baby on her/her back on a firm, tight-fitting mattress in a baby crib that meets current safety standards.
2. Remove crib bedding such as pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, stuffed toys and other soft products from the baby crib.
3. Consider using a sleeper as an alternative to blankets, with no other covering.
4. If using a blanket, put baby with the feet at the foot of the baby crib. Tuck a thin blanket around the baby crib mattress, only as far as the baby’s chest.
5. Make sure your baby’s head remains uncovered during sleep.
6. Do not place baby on a waterbed, sofa, soft mattress, pillow or other soft surface to sleep.

Check Your Baby Crib’s Hardware for Loose Screws
It is imperative that you regularly check the baby crib’s hardware to make sure the screws and slates haven’t come loose. As you baby begins to jump and bounce around in the baby crib, the hardware could become loose. Keep in mind that most baby crib injuries come from baby cribs coming a part. At the time that I wrote this article, I had never checked my baby’s crib for loose screws (she was 20 months old at the time). When I did check it for the first time, I found several loose screws caused from her favorite activity: jumping as high as possible in her baby crib! I had never thought about the importance of checking her baby crib. Now I check her baby crib for loose hardware on a monthly basis.

Using Crib Mobiles and Other Baby Crib Toys Safely
In general, never hang anything on the baby crib or near it so that you baby could reach it. For example, never hang a toy, diaper holder, or clothing on the baby crib. If you hang a crib mobile above the baby crib, make sure that the crib mobile is completely out of reach of your baby. If you are going to use baby crib gyms, make sure they are secured at both ends of the baby crib so that it can not be pulled into the baby crib. You will need to remove the baby crib gym when you baby is 5 months old or is able to get on his/her hands and knees. It is important to remove all baby toys from the baby crib when you put your baby to sleep. Any toys left in the baby crib pose a suffocation risk.

When to Adjust the Baby Crib Mattress Height
Once your baby is able to sit up by himself, move the baby crib mattress to a lower position. When your baby can stand, be sure to lower it to its lowest position.. It will be important to remove any toys and bedding that will help your baby climb out of the baby crib. Keep in mind that parents aren’t aware that their child can climb out of the baby crib until they do it. My sister was very surprised when her 24 month old son started crying during his nap. She went in his room and found him on the floor. He had used a stuffed teddy bear to help him climb out of the baby crib. She had no idea that he was even close to being able to climb out. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt. Not all children are us lucky when they climb out of the baby crib.

The Right Time to Switch from a Baby crib to a Bed
It is time to move your child to a bed when your child is 35 inches or higher or when the side rail is less than three-quarters of his or her height. . Some children are better climbers than others. If you have a good climber on your hands, you may need to move your child to a bed when your child begins to try to climb out of the baby crib. A lot of baby crib injuries happen when a child climbs out of the baby crib and falls to the floor.

A Couple of Other Remaining Safety Issues to Consider
Never use plastic bags as mattress covers. The plastic could cling to a baby’s face and cause suffocation.

Make sure that you raise the baby crib sides to their fullest height and lock them when your infant is in the baby crib.

With all of these tips in mind, you should be able to use your new baby crib safely with your little one. It can be a fun and stimulating environment as well as a safe place to play and sleep for your child.

About the Author
Sarah Holmes, Ph.D. quit her full-time job in order to stay home with her baby girl. She created www.BabyCribCentral.com as a free resource to other new moms and dads. Her site compares prices on hundreds of baby cribs from more than 20 online stores allowing you to find the beset price with a click of a button. Her site also offers lots of information about the different types of cribs as well as all sorts of safety information about how to buy and use your new crib safely.

The quality of a baby bedding collection is determined by the fabrics used in making the quilts or comforters, crib bumpers, dust ruffles, and other items that comprise the baby bedding set. Little information is available to consumers to help them access the quality of fabrics used in the hundreds of crib bedding collections that are sold by dozens of manufacturers. Here are a few characteristics that a consumer should consider when comparing crib bedding collections from competing brands.

Printed Fabric Patterns versus Woven Fabric Patterns
Many simple fabric patterns – such as stripes, plaids, and ginghams – can be printed or woven. While not readily apparent to the uninformed consumer, the differences between these two fabric manufacturing methods are significant and important for the appearance and durability of the crib bedding.

Woven fabrics start with differently colored threads or yarns. These threads or yarns are woven together in such a manner as to create the desired pattern – generally ginghams (small checked patterns), plaids, and stripes. The colors and pattern become an integral part of the fabric itself. Look for a fabric where the pattern appears on both sides of the fabric- this is a sure sign that it is woven. Or simply examine the fabric up close and note the colors of the individual threads that make up the fabric.

Printed fabrics are made with a solid colored material. The desired pattern is imprinted onto the surface of the solid material using a variety of inks and printing techniques. Look for a fabric where the pattern appears only on one side – this is a sure sign that it is printed, not woven.

Woven fabrics are almost universally superior to printed fabrics. They are more color-fast and resist fading more effectively than printed fabrics. The pattern, being an integral part of the fabric itself, will not wear off as compared to a superficial pattern that is printed on the surface of the fabric. The durability of a printed pattern is very much dependent on the amount of ink and precise technique used to imprint the pattern. Unfortunately, this is almost impossible to determine based simply on examining the fabric.

Complex, nonlinear patterns cannot generally be woven. But a manufacturer who chooses to use printed fabrics for simple gingham, plaid, and striped patterns is sacrificing quality in favor of cost. Not to say that a printed pattern should be avoided at all costs; but the higher price of a baby bedding set made with a woven gingham or striped fabric is usually more than justified by the higher quality.

Printed Designs versus Embroidered Designs on Fabrics
Manufacturers are increasingly creative in using complex designs in their baby nursery bedding to communicate a desired theme. These designs can be either embroidered or printed.

Embroidered designs use separate threads to sew the design into the fabric, often in combination with other textured fabrics. While embroidery techniques and technology has improved over the years to make them more cost-effective, it is still more costly to embroider a design than it is to simply print it on the surface of the fabric. Embroidered designs are generally more detailed, and almost universally more durable than imprinted designs.

Again, not that printed designs need be avoided at all costs. But the consumer should be aware of the quality differences before choosing a baby nursery bedding set with printed designs over a more costly crib set with embroidered designs.

Real or Printed Patchwork
In an effort to reduce cost, some “patchwork” bedding is really one piece of fabric with a “patchwork” design printed on it – the fabric shell of the item is then “stuffed” and sewn over at the borders of the different patterns to create a patchwork appearance. It is generally easy to see this shortcut with a simple up-close examination of the fabric – the stitching rarely lines up consistently with the printed pattern. True patchwork is far superior to printed patchwork designs and is always more expensive. True patchwork shows different textures as well as different colors and patterns.

Price versus Value
Unfortunately, some crib bedding manufacturers are choosing to use lower quality fabrics to decrease their costs without passing all of these savings on to the consumer. You should be very alert to discover these differences. It can mean the difference between a crib bedding collection that will last for a single child, or one that will last for generations.

About the Author:
Robert Meier, is President of Baby Supermall, an internet retailer of Crib Bedding, Baby Bedding Sets and Baby Nursery Decor.