Creative Minds Learning Center schools have always been progressive with offering the children we serve the very best in research and development. When Creative Minds offered Infant Programs at our Sellwood, Westmoreland and Happy Valley schools, research was done to ensure the very best learning environment for babies. One important and surprising discovery was the risks of cribs for infants. Due to the statistics of crib injuries and deaths, Creative Minds worked successfully with the State of Oregon to implement infant sleeping coves rather than cribs. This has been successful in the classroom and keeps the floor space open for the needs of the babies and helps their gross motor development skills and floor time for crawling and movement.
One of our little guys who enjoys the sleeping cove area when he needs rest.
This article by James Kelleher offered insightful data in regards to cribs:Researchers found that between 1990 and 2008, some 181,654 children under the age of 2 were treated in U.S. emergency rooms for injuries related to cribs, playpens and bassinets -- the majority as a result of falls from cribs that caused injuries to the head, neck or face.Only a small fraction of the injuries over the 19-year period -- just 5.5 percent -- were the result of child becoming caught or wedged in the crib's protective bars. But such accidents accounted for the greatest number of fatalities that could not be related to some other cause, such as sudden infant death syndrome.The vast majority of the children admitted to the ER for crib-related accidents during the study period -- nearly 94 percent -- were treated and released. But an estimated 2,140 died as a result of their injuries.
Another article by Brenda Goodman, MA on Feb. 17, 2011, highlighted information regarding crib injuries and deaths. Nearly 10,000 children are taken to the emergency room each year -- an average of one every hour, after falling or becoming wedged or caught in cribs, playpens, and bassinets, a new study shows.“It’s certainly a very common source of injury,” says study researcher Gary A. Smith, MD, DrPH, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “We also recognize that this is an underestimate,” Smith says, because the study only looked at injuries reported to emergency rooms, not those treated by urgent care centers, doctors in private practice, or those that went without treatment at all. “So we’ve got a real problem.”Experts say the study, which collected reports of injuries to children from hospital emergency rooms across the U.S. over 19 years, represents the first national look at this problem. The study comes in the midst of a flurry of regulatory activity over cribs and crib products that has culminated in the recalls of millions of items and the first new government-mandated safety standards in cribs issued in nearly two decades.The study was published online in the journal Pediatrics.The research was praised by government regulators and industry representatives for helping to increase awareness of dangers to children posed by unsafe sleep environments.“The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association applauds any study which raises awareness of crib and sleep environment safety for parents,” Amy Chezem, communications director for the JPMA, which represents many crib manufacturers, says in a statement.
Researchers who were not involved in the study also praised its scope.“I thought that it was an important study,” says Rachel Y. Moon, MD, a pediatrician and expert on sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.“You have to be careful no matter where your baby is. There are a lot of things that can be done to cribs, playpens, and bassinets that can make them safer,” Moon says.
Another article by Brenda Goodman, MA on Feb. 17, 2011, highlighted information regarding crib injuries and deaths. Nearly 10,000 children are taken to the emergency room each year -- an average of one every hour, after falling or becoming wedged or caught in cribs, playpens, and bassinets, a new study shows.“It’s certainly a very common source of injury,” says study researcher Gary A. Smith, MD, DrPH, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “We also recognize that this is an underestimate,” Smith says, because the study only looked at injuries reported to emergency rooms, not those treated by urgent care centers, doctors in private practice, or those that went without treatment at all. “So we’ve got a real problem.”Experts say the study, which collected reports of injuries to children from hospital emergency rooms across the U.S. over 19 years, represents the first national look at this problem. The study comes in the midst of a flurry of regulatory activity over cribs and crib products that has culminated in the recalls of millions of items and the first new government-mandated safety standards in cribs issued in nearly two decades.The study was published online in the journal Pediatrics.The research was praised by government regulators and industry representatives for helping to increase awareness of dangers to children posed by unsafe sleep environments.“The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association applauds any study which raises awareness of crib and sleep environment safety for parents,” Amy Chezem, communications director for the JPMA, which represents many crib manufacturers, says in a statement.
Researchers who were not involved in the study also praised its scope.“I thought that it was an important study,” says Rachel Y. Moon, MD, a pediatrician and expert on sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.“You have to be careful no matter where your baby is. There are a lot of things that can be done to cribs, playpens, and bassinets that can make them safer,” Moon says.
Steps Parents Can Take at Home
Experts advise parents should be wary of hand-me-down cribs or equipment purchased at yard sales.“Parents should check any previously used equipment at the web site Recalls.gov to make sure it hasn’t had safety issues,” Smith says.When using any crib, new or used, experts advise parents to double-check the bed is assembled correctly and that the hardware is not loose. Mattress size is also important. There shouldn’t be any gaps between the mattress and the frame.And as your child grows, move the mattress down so the bars stay too high to climb over.“When your child gets to 35 inches in height, it’s time to transition them to a toddler bed,” Smith says.These articles can be found at:
* Visit www.recalls.gov to make sure your crib at home has not been recalled.
A view under our Sellwood school's infant cove.
