When to lower the crib mattress? Lower the crib mattress if your baby starts to move on its own.
A crib mattress is as essential as having a nanny to look out for your baby while sleeping whenever you are out to supervise them.
Who doesn’t enjoy a good sleep on a soft and comfortable mattress? All of us, right? I mean, who doesn’t?
It is mostly the same when it comes to babies.
Babies spend a lot of their time sleeping to ensure growth along with feeding.
Babies mostly spend their day sleeping, so why not give them comfort while sleeping?
As much as having a crib, you should also have a crib mattress. But does the height of the crib mattress matter?
Time When To Lower Your Crib Mattress
So, when to lower the crib mattress?
A crib mattress is where your baby is when they are sleeping.
As mothers, to cope with the baby’s sleeping pattern, we tend to sleep alone whenever the baby is asleep.
So we sometimes leave our baby unattended while we are asleep and wake up when we hear them cry.
So how would you know if the height of the crib mattress is still safe for your baby to sleep?
Highest position
When your baby is under five months old, they still can sit up straight by themselves. They will spend most of their time lying down, so the highest crib mattress setting should always be safe.
It is OK to keep it in the highest position setting since it will make it easier for you to lift your baby.
It can also help ease the pain and stress that we feel on our backs when we try to get the baby out of the crib and put them down with ease.
Not only will you feel at ease when getting the baby out, but it will also help you support your baby’s neck when placing them down without waking them up.
In this setting, you should keep your crib mattress at a high setting as long as they’re immobile.
Middle height
When you notice that your baby is starting to move on its own, it’s time to lower down the crib mattress.
When your baby already knows how to roll or sit unsupported, lower down your crib mattress’s height to the middle.
It mostly happens when they age five to eight months. When they know to push their hands or their knees, they tend to pull their selves up.
At this stage, babies are prone to the dangers of falling out of the crib.
Your baby may try to pull themselves up and stand then fall, and we don’t want that.
Lowest position
Positioning the baby’s crib mattress height is for your baby’s protection against falling out of the crib.
If your baby shows any signs of standing up, it is time for you to put your baby’s crib mattress at the lowest height.
It is also essential to remove the crib bumpers or the wedges installed underneath the crib. These things are now unnecessary to use.
Crib Mattress Safety Precautions
Your baby will most likely be unsupervised when you place them in their crib—so making sure that a crib is a safe place for you to leave your baby.
One of the common injuries that a baby acquires while in the crib is falling out of it.
A high crib mattress causes falling, or the mattress’s height wasn’t set up correctly and according to the child’s age.
So how will you make sure that the crib is safe for your baby when you are out doing chores and stuff?
Here are some tips to help you out:
Slats
The slats in the child’s crib should be not greater than 3 inches apart. That is to ensure that the baby’s head can’t get trapped.
Wide slat gaps may lead to an accident of getting the baby’s head trapped in and may cause severe injuries if left unattended.
Corner post
If your crib has corner posts, make sure you raise them higher than the baby could reach.
Some manufacturers would design cribs to have a small roof or a mosquito net attached.
Having a higher corner post is advised to prevent the ribbons or strings attached to it from strangling the baby.
Screws, bolts, and nuts
These small things may become loose, and the crib may fall apart, or the baby could get and swallow them up.
To prevent any of these from happening, make sure that there is no loose screw, bolts, or nuts scattered on the crib.
See if the crib needs repair and parts replacement before letting the baby sleep on it.
An accident may happen due to the negligence of this idea.
Conclusion
A crib is every mother’s companion in keeping watch with the baby, especially when the mother has some chores to do like cleaning or eating.
The crib should also be the safest place to place your baby.
So it is necessary to know when to lower the crib mattress.
Not only will you benefit from knowing this, but it will also save you the time to worry if your baby is safe or not while you’re away.