How to Create a Safe Sleep Environment for Your Baby: Crib Safety Guidelines

Newborn baby sleeping in crib, holding a toy in his hand

Endearing videos of expectant parents painting the nursery, picking out clothes, and building a crib are telltale signs a baby is on the way. The crib is a universally recognized symbol of infancy and parenthood. More than just a symbol, the crib is where your baby will get much-needed rest. It’s the place where your child will have their first dreams.

The simplicity of a crib’s design hides a careful consideration for both function and safety. Your baby’s needs and abilities will grow rapidly over the first months and years of their lives, and the crib needs to accommodate your baby through several stages of development. Follow these tips to ensure bedtime, naptime, and sleep time are restful and safe.

Crib Safety Checklist

Crib safety begins long before your little one curls up for their first night’s rest at home. Setting up a safe sleeping space starts with selecting the right crib, assembling it correctly, and putting it in the right place. Reusing old cribs is not recommended, as they may have been manufactured with outdated safety guidelines or have broken down from use. If your financial situation allows, buying a new crib is one of the easiest ways to ensure it meets the most up-to-date safety standards.

  • Check the gap between the slats: The gap between crib slats should be no more than 2 3/8 inches (60 millimeters) apart to ensure your baby’s head can’t get stuck between them. All cribs manufactured after 2011 should meet this guideline, but older cribs may not. Inspect the crib to ensure there aren’t any broken or missing slats.
  • Crib mesh: If your crib has mesh, the gaps should be ¼ inch or smaller. Ensure the mesh is securely attached to the rails and free of tears, holes, and loose threads.
  • No bed posts: Baby’s clothes can get caught on bed posts or corner posts, so cribs shouldn’t have them. If there are corner posts, they should be no higher than 1/16 of an inch.
  • Solid headboards and footboards: Headboards and footboards shouldn’t have any holes or cutouts where little heads, limbs, or fingers can fit through.
  • Adjust the height: Some cribs have adjustable heights, allowing you to raise and lower the base and providing easier access to newborns. As your baby grows, periodically adjust the height so they can’t escape or injure themselves.
  • Double-check fasteners: Check for missing, loose, broken, or improperly installed hardware (screws, bolts, nails, staples, etc.). Missing hardware could cause structural problems, while loose or broken hardware could cause injury.

What To Put In Your Baby’s Crib (And What To Leave Out)

A good crib provides a comfortable place for your baby to sleep while protecting them from the rest of the outside world. The more distance you can put between your baby’s crib and the rest of the world (everything from blankets and toys to windows, furniture, and more), the safer it will be.

  • Bare is best: It might seem simple, but the best crib is a bare crib. Ideally, the crib holds a mattress, a fitted sheet, your baby, and nothing else. Toss out pillows, crib bumpers, stuffed animals, toys, and anything else that could pose a danger. Newborns aren’t strong enough or coordinated enough to reposition their bodies. Even soft toys can pose a suffocation risk.
  • Mobile safety: Make sure any mobiles hang high enough that your baby can’t reach them. Once your baby can push themself up on their hands, remove the mobile so they can’t get ahold of it.
  • Make the crib an island: As your baby learns problem-solving skills, they’re likely to apply them to getting out of the crib. To reduce the risk of injury, keep cribs away from windows and at least an arm’s length away from furniture, blinds, and drapes. Be mindful of wall decorations hanging over the crib, including photographs and mirrors.
  • Mattress size: Make sure the crib mattress fits snugly inside the crib, with little to no extra space. You shouldn’t be able to fit more than two fingers between the mattress and the slats.
  • Keep the sheets tight: Use only a fitted sheet specifically made for crib use and fitted to your specific mattress dimensions. The sheet should fit snugly enough that it can’t slip off.

Keep it distant, keep it snug, and keep it clear. Following these basic crib safety guidelines will help make sure that your baby has a safe and restful sleep environment, so you have the peace of mind to sleep soundly too.

Toby Cox, M.D., MPH

Toby Cox, M.D., MPH

Toby practices pediatrics in our West Jordan office.

a happy father receives a kiss from his son

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