Children's bedding safety tips

Which safety tips to employ for your child will depend on age, size and other common sense factors. But the list below will help provide some guidance from which to select.

If your child is under 12 months old, you'll want to ensure that comforters and other blankets are not too thick or large. It's natural to want to ensure that your baby is warm and comfortable. But solve part of that need with clothing. Don't rely solely on blankets for that purpose.

Large comforters easily bunch up into pockets and areas of 'valley and mountain' that provide a place where the baby's face may land. It's rare, but suffocation can occur when a baby is placed on or rolls over onto the stomach. Even partial air obstruction can lead to medical problems.

Common sense dictates that any small object that could poke an eye or insert into the mouth should be removed from the bed or crib at sleep time. Every parent knows that babies and young children of all ages do move around during sleep, just as adults do. It's all too easy to accidentally sweep a small toy into an eye, nose or mouth.

Clean dry linen and blankets are another obvious common sense necessity. Most infants will eliminate sometime during sleep. Even potty trained children will sometimes continue to wet the bed or eliminate into later ages. The practice varies from one child to another and there's no easy way to predict which will or won't. Keeping the skin dry and free of waste products is essential to good health.

More subtle are the possible health effects of various materials and modern technologies.

Some modern materials are truly lifesavers. Fire resistant, non-smoking sheets and blankets have prevented many a tragedy in recent decades. Death from fire or smoke inhalation used to be much more likely than it is today. But with the importation of bedding from other countries with different standards, along with the still-existing use of non-treated bedding, the hazard does still present itself. Look for labels that offer protection.

On the flip side, it is possible (though less likely) to find bedding that contains substances that can produce rash or are manufactured in a way to produce irritants or even cuts. Loose threads can catch between the thumb and fingers that can produce bruising. Some children are sensitive to compounds that can lead to skin irritation.

Even those advertised as 'natural' (and sometimes because they're manufactured without modern techniques), sheets or blankets can cause itching or allergic reactions. Some children are allergic, for example, to hemp, a substance sometimes touted as a near miracle fiber. The best course of action is to observe your own child carefully and take note when anything new is introduced into his or her sleep environment.

Keep in mind that bedding designed for adults may not be suitable for children. Their immune systems are different and they're less likely to wake up when their brain signals a problem during sleep. Use bedding designed for children from reputable manufacturers and you'll generally be on safe ground.