When my boys were babies, I worried about them so much. Ok, truth be told, I still do! Even when my boys were asleep, I always tried to focus on their safety. But how can you keep baby safer in his crib?
Here’s what Mommy MD Guide Rallie McAllister, MD, MPH has to say:
“When my babies were newborns, they slept in cribs with a mattress and nothing else. I had two babies in cribs at once, and the floor of their room was usually a total mess, but I always tried to keep their cribs clear.
“I dressed my baby boys in temperature-appropriate pajamas so I wouldn’t have to worry about them getting tangled up in blankets, which was just one of the hundreds of dangers I obsessed about as a new mother. I had a big, colorful mural on the wall and musical mobiles hanging from the ceiling out of reach so they’d have something to look at.
“I was never really tempted to keep toys or stuffed animals in my babies’ cribs, because I wasn’t all that successful at teaching them to stay in their cribs while they were the least bit awake. They were usually nearly asleep when I put them down for a nap or for bedtime. Because I’m an early riser, I usually just went and scooped them up as soon as they started crying or calling for me. So much for self-soothing!
“The empty crib policy probably made extra work for me and cost me a little sleep, but it was worth it to me knowing that my babies were as safe as they could be. Although I failed to teach my sons to be good self-soothers while they were infants, I’m happy to report that they have all grown up to be strong, independent young men, and they’re all able to fall asleep on their own now.”
—Rallie McAllister, MD, MPH, a mom of three grown sons, a family physician, and coauthor of The Mommy MD Guide to Getting Your Baby to Sleep
Buy your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Mommy-Guide-Getting-Your-Sleep/dp/098448048X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478095129&sr=8-1&keywords=mommy+md+guide
