The first few days from the hospital can be a little stressful for the new parents, most especially the mother. The mother may need to recover from the stress and turbulent feelings arising from motherhood and child care. A lot of things may need to be done following a few days stay in the hospital and not the least important is the child's crib safety.

A lot of parents worry about their child's safety when outside the home, but a growing number of cases have been reported of infant death right in their own crib. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is described as the abrupt and unexplained death of a baby under one year old. Since most of these deaths occur in the crib, parents need to employ safety measures to reduce the risk of “crib death” and prevent suffocation. Here are some ways to employ to reduce the risk of accidents in cribs.

• Before using, remove all the plastic wrappings of a new crib.

• Ensure that the mattress is firm and covers all the edges of the crib to prevent the child from slipping between it.

• Avoid placing pillows, comforters and stuffed toys in the crib with your baby

• Regularly check the screws of the crib as some tends to loosen up in time. Tighten loose screws if necessary.

• Use a fitted sheet for the mattress so as to prevent possible suffocation due to loose bed sheets.

• Ensure that hanging toys are away from the child's reach.

• Check that the crib slats are at most 2 3/8 inches apart and there are no cracked slats so as to prevent your child's head from fitting through them.

• Always lock the sides of the crib when the baby is in place.

• Avoid placing the crib near a window where curtains or blinds is within easy reach.

• When traveling, bring your own mobile crib if possible. A lot of the cribs and carriers in hotels are outdated and unsafe. Employ an alternative safe sleeping arrangement if needed.

• Keep the room temperature at bay so as to avoid over-bundling and placing blankets and comforters over your child.

• Discourage an older sibling to climb into the crib and sleep with the baby. Sharing a crib increases the risk of SIDS to the newborn child.

• Place your baby on his or her back during sleeping. SIDS cases happen when a child is allowed to sleep on his tummy for longer periods of time without supervision. Placing a child on his back also allows maximum lung expansion thus promotes a good night's rest.

• Allow the child to take short naps on his tummy provided that an adult is watching. Continuous lying on the back may lead to a flattened head.

• When leaving your baby to the care of others, reinforce the need to have the child sleep on his back. A lot of SIDS cases happen when the child is left with another person who is not the primary caregiver. Do not assume that your friend or sitter already knows this information; instead show them how to position your child to prevent unwanted accidents from happening.