If you’re anything like first-time, newly-pregnant me, this might sound very familiar:
You browse Pinterest looking for the best nursery decor inspiration. You save hundreds of pins, dreaming of your child’s perfect bedding, coordinated wall-hangings, and all of the memories you’ll make in the room together.
And maybe you spend hours setting up their crib, adding all of the must-have baby products. And once your new bundle of joy arrives, they end up sleeping in a bassinet in your room, with their beautiful crib sitting unused for months (or years!).
I’ll admit: as a new mom, it was all about the aesthetics – safe sleep environments weren’t on my radar much. Looking back, it’s now easy to see the areas that weren’t the safest for my child to sleep in, like his crib bumpers or his sleep tight blanket hanging from the crib. But in the moment, I was only focused on what looked nice, not necessarily what could be hazardous.
As fun as it may be to dream of the picture-perfect nursery, the truth is, your newborn needs very little when it comes to their sleep.
Above all, we want to make sure they’re in a safe sleep environment at all times. With so much changing information that’s available to new parents, you may wonder what’s truly safe, what’s needed, and what’s not.