Sleep Safety

Nursery Safety: Put Safety Before Style

So you’re decorating your nursery. You’ve scoured the Internet for ideas. Fabric swatches and color palettes swirl in your mind. But the most important question about your nursery is how do we make it safe? Here’s the answer.

Steps to Safety

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Have An Overall Strategy
- Secure all furniture like dressers, shelves, and changing tables to the wall with straps and brackets so they can’t tip over. Learn more about tip-over prevention here.
- Keep cribs, chairs and other furniture away from windows so kids can’t climb up and fall out.
Get To Know Your Furniture
- Dressers & Bookshelves
  - In addition to furniture brackets, you can reduce the risk of tip-overs by keeping heavier items on the bottom.
  - Add drawer stops so kids can’t pull them all the way out.
- Changing Tables
  - Keep a hand on your baby when they are on the changing table.
  - Anchor the changing table and pad to the wall to prevent it from tipping over.
  - Use the safety straps on changing pads.
  - Safely organize diaper-changing products so they’re within your reach but not your baby’s.
  - Be extra cautious to keep potentially dangerous items away from their hands and mouths, like containers with small caps, medications and ointments with chemicals.
- Cribs
  - We could write a whole article about crib safety. Oh wait, we did. Read it here.
Watch Out For Windows
- Keep them closed when you’re not in the room, and install window stops to keep them from opening more than 4 inches.
- Know that window screens aren’t designed to be a safety feature. They’ll keep bugs out, but they won’t keep kids in. For more on window safety, go here.
- Cords can pose a strangulation risk, so get cordless blinds, shades or curtains. For more on this, go here.
- If your window treatments have cords, contact the Window Covering Safety Council for a free kit that can help make your windows safer, as your child can become entangled in both looped and nonlooped cords even if they are up and away.
Protect Them From Plugs
- Shield electrical outlets with safety covers.
- Avoid using long cords. If you can’t avoid it, use electrical cord shorteners.
- Make sure all cords stay at least three feet away from where your baby sleeps and plays. For more on this, go here.