Before you can bring baby home, you need a car seat, and you need to make sure it is properly installed. To ensure your baby's car seat is properly installed go to your local highway patrol website for tips.
Preparing the House for the Baby's Arrival
Smokers Pay Attention! Tobacco smoke in an infant's environment (particulary a newborn's environment) is the second highest risk factor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)! In addition, children exposed to second hand smoke are more likely to develop lung diseases, ear infections and asthma. If you smoke or have allowed smoking in your home, stop smoking in your home, stop smoking and work very hard to air out your home at least several months before your baby's arrival. To learn more about SIDS click here.
Where Will Baby Sleep? (Where your baby sleeps is VERY important- PLEASE READ!) Baby should always sleep ON THIER BACK, and never in an adult bed, waterbed, on a bean bag or on the sofa. The best place for a baby to sleep is in his or her own crib or bassinet on a firm mattress covered by only one sheet, placed next to the adult bed or sleep area. As tempting as it may be DO NOT place blankets, stuffed animals, or crib bumpers in your baby's crib or bassinet. They increase your baby's risk for SIDS because your baby could roll over onto them and suffocate.
Lead Poisoning Prevention
Beware of peeling paint! Check your home for lead as soon as you find out that you are pregnant. Exposure to lead can harm your baby before its even born! Lead is toxic and exposure to lead can cause damage to children's brains and nervous systems, and contribute to learning disabilities, behavioral problems, developmental delays and other health related problems. Children under age 6 are most vulnerable. To learn more about the harmful effects of lead, and how to protect your children from lead poisoning visit the Environmental Protection Agency's website.
Smart Parents=Safe Babies
Here is some important information about keeping your new bundle of jow safe and healthy.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the unexpected, unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant under 1 year of age. SIDS usually occurs in infants 2 to 4 months old, with 90% of deaths occuring before 6 months of age. In addition, African American and Native American babies are 2 to 3 times more likely to dies of SIDS than Caucasian babies.
There are certain factors that appear to be highly associated with SIDS related deaths:
Placing an infant to sleep on the stomach or the side. INFANTS SHOULD ALWAYS BE PLACED ON THEIR BACKS TO SLEEP.
Soft objects, like stuffed animals and loose bedding such as blankets, comforters and pillows, may cause the baby to suffocate. The safest sleeping environment for your baby is a firm mattress covered by a sheet and NOTHING ELSE. If you are worried about keeping your baby warm use additional layers of clothing.
Infant exposure to second hand tobacco smoke. To reduce the risk of SIDS keep your baby in a smoke free environment. If you and/or your partner smoked in the home prior to pregnancy, work really hard as soon as you find out you are pregnant to air out the house before baby's homecoming. This means not smoking in the house anymore, and keeping all the window's open as long as possible to allow fresh are to circulate. Plants also help remove toxins from the air.
Bed sharing. It is safest for the baby to sleep in the same room, but not in the same bed as the caregivers.
Keeping Baby Away From Chemicals
Be BPA Free! BPA is short for bisphenol A, a chemical found in many plastic baby products, including bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups and food storage containers, and may pose serious hazards to your child's health and development. BPA is a chemical that mimics the human hormone estrogen and may be associated with the increased risks for cancer, genetic damage, reproductive dysfunction, hormone dysfunction, and disruptions in normal development in children. To learn more about bisphenol A and its potentially harmful health effects visit this websites:
www.bisphenolafree.org
Phthalates & Parabens. Phthalates and parabens are man-made chemicals often found in baby care products such as baby lotions, shampoos and powders.
Phthalates may have harmful effects on the immune, hormone and reproductive systems, particularly in infants. Phthalates may also increase one's risk for cancer. Studies have shown high levels of absorption of the chemicals in infants, espcially those under 8 months old.
Parabens appear to have adverse effects on the male reproductive system, may disrupt the hormone system, and may contribute to increased risk for cancer as they have been found in breast tumors.
