Healthy Living Tips

MikeA November 10th, 2009

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Foreword By Mike Alexander

This excellent article by Darla Goodwin (see her bio at the end) is about a subject that doesn’t often get covered despite its importance. If you are expecting a new family addition, espacially if it’s your first, you’ll surely find it interesting and informative.

Types Of Crib Mattresses

Image via Wikipedia

When shopping for your newest family member’s nursery, one overlooked item is the baby crib mattress. Be sure to consider comfort and support when comparing mattresses. Your most likely choices will be between a foam or innerspring baby crib mattress. Wether you choose innerspring or foam, the firmness is what is important. A firm mattress means your baby’s body and developing back will be fully supported.

Both kinds of mattress are very different. The innerspring mattress is heavier, more complex and, as the name suggests, much springier than it’s foam counterpart. When purchasing a baby crib mattress, think long term. Your baby will be using this mattress for at least the first 12 months and probably a lot longer, especially if your crib can be adjusted or turned into a bed as the child grows.

What To Consider

When considering an innerspring baby crib mattress, you will find that steel coils, insulation and foam cushioning are the construction materials. The weight of the steel coils determines how springy the mattress will be. The heavier the coil, the higher the quality of the mattress. Hence, firmer, safer, and more durable.  One drawback though is that, although comfortable, a playful child might be tempted to use an innerspring mattress as a trampoline.

A foam baby crib mattress is exactly what it implies. A slab of polyurethane foam that slips into a cover. The more dense the foam is, the higher the quality. Test the foam by pressing your hand to it. You should not be able to feel the other side. After releasing, the foam should quickly return to its original shape.

A Good Fit

It is of the greatest importance to check that the matress fits the frame. As most cribs and mattresses are sold separately, make sure you buy the mattress with the right measurements. Ideally, there should be no gap between the mattress and the frame.

Weather you choose a foam or a innerspring baby crib mattress, either type can work quite well for your baby. More important is the quality. Consider the higher quality mattress as a better investment. It will be firmer, better for your baby, and last longer.

About The Author

Just Baby Nursery Bedding (http://www.just-baby-nursery-bedding.com) providing consumers with a wide range of competitively priced baby bedding sets. The children’s resources section provides more information on baby crib mattresses and other topics useful to new moms and dads.

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Tags: baby, childhood, infant, pregnancy, sleep

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MikeA April 7th, 2009

Infancy

For three or four weeks after its birth, a healthy new baby usually sleeps all day and all night, waking only to satisfy its need for sustenance. However, at the end of this time, each waking period starts to last longer and sleeping bouts become shorter.

This inclination to sleep in the early weeks must not be interrupted but as the pattern changes over the following weeks, care should be taken to develop a certain regularity in hours of sleep. Otherwise too much can be had in the daytime, and restless and disturbed nights inevitably follow. It is best to train the infant in the habit of sleeping in the middle of the day at a certain time and then the actual period of sleep will gradually reduce down naturally to about two hours, more or less. If put to rest too late in the day, a bad night will likely ensue.

The baby should initially sleep with its mother. The low temperature of its body, and its weak heat-generating power make this the preferred option. If the child has disturbed and restless nights though, as sometimes happens for short periods, it is best transferred to the care of someone else and returned to mother early in the morning for nursing and feeding. This is for the preservation of the mother’s health which, through sleepless nights, can so easily be upset. The baby would then also suffer by the influence which such a health disruption could have upon the mother’s milk and her general demeanor.

After about six weeks the child, if healthy, may sleep alone in a cradle or cot, care being taken that it has comfortable clothes and covers appropriate for the room its in. This needs to be sufficiently warm (about 60F) and the cot itself shielded from any cold air currents. It is important to attend to these points since the child’s ability to maintain temperature is less during sleep than at any other time. Guard against subjecting the infant to too much heat though; just aim to keep it comfortably warm with a good circulation of pure air, especially around its mouth and nose.

Early Childhood

Up to the third or fourth year the child should be permitted to sleep for an hour or so in the morning and afternoon. After this it may gradually be discontinued; but it must always be remembered that during the whole of childhood more sleep is required than in adulthood. The infant should be put to bed every night between seven and eight and, if it’s healthy, will sleep soundly until the following morning. No definite rule, however, can be laid down regarding the number of hours of sleep to be allowed since one child might require more or less sleep than another. Regularity as to the time of going to bed is the chief point to attend to. Permit nothing to interfere with this, and then only let the child sleep without disturbance until he or she wakes of his or her own accord.

Later Childhood

The amount of sleep necessary to preserve health varies according to the state of the body, and the habits of the individual. Up to puberty children can sleep for up to twelve or fourteen hours a day; after that, up to ten. Upon awakening, they should be encouraged to rise and not lie in bed unnecessarily. This helps to bring about the habit of early rising, and reduces the tendencies towards idleness which all children have.

It is not a good idea to unquestioningly provide all the conveniences a child might demand in their bedroom (such as a television or computer) simply because “everybody else has one”. This inevitably gives them the idea that their room is exclusively their own domain and one to which all ‘interlopers’ are forbidden, even their parents! This is not healthy development. Parents should remain in charge of their offspring until such time as they leave home and any notion to the contrary should immediately be stamped out. As far as the topic of this article is concerned, such an attitude makes it impossible to monitor their sleep patterns which could, and almost inevitably would, eventually become extremely detrimental to their health and well-being.

Mike Alexander

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Tags: baby, childhood, infant, pre-teens, preventive care, sleep, teens, toddler

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