Are you unsure of how to raise the mattress of a bassinet? As you read on, you’ll learn how to carry out each of the tasks.
The most difficult part of the day can be putting your child to bed. If your baby is suffering from acid reflux, things can get considerably worse.
This is due to the fact that symptoms often make it difficult for them to sleep.
Baby’s esophagus is more likely to get splattered with acid if he or she is flat on the mattress.
As a result, your darling child has suffered harm.
Your infant may benefit from an elevated bassinet mattress.
What Is A Bassinet?
A bassinet is a specially designed bed for newborns up to the age of four months. Typically, they are oval in shape, feature mesh or cloth sides, and are designed to be easily portable.
It is possible for an adult’s waistline to rest on the mattress thanks to the bassinet foundation. There are many parents who have found this arrangement to be a great assistance in getting their infant to sleep.
You may not be able to set your baby down in the crib or pick them up, for example, if you had a C-section. In this case, the bassinet is a preferable option.
Bassinets come in a wide range of colors and styles. Even ruffled designs, hoods, and storage under the bed are available in some models. There have been a number of new features added to bassinets over the years, including:
- Lights
- Sounds
- Rocking
A bassinet is no longer a secure place for your baby to sleep after they are able to roll over on their own or weigh more than 20 pounds. Your baby should be out of the bassinet by the time they are four months old, depending on their development and growth.
Benefits Of Using A Bassinet
This is a moment you’ll cherish forever: taking your newborn home from the hospital! However, once you arrive at your destination, they will require a place to rest. You can choose between a bassinet and a crib for your baby.
What’s the difference between the bassinet and the crib? Check out our Bassinet vs. Crib: What’s the difference and which one is best for your baby? comparison and breakdown of the two articles.
What are the benefits of utilizing a bassinet for your newborn?
Ease Of Access
As a result of its size and portability, a bassinet can easily be placed next to your bed for easy access. You shouldn’t sleep with your kid in bed with you, but if you do, you can quickly reach them if they cry or need something in the middle of the night.
Mobility
In comparison to cribs, bassinets offer a greater degree of portability. Bassinets are also lighter, and many have wheels that make it even easier to move the bed when necessary.
If you must move the bassinet while your infant is sleeping, make sure to lock its wheels once you’ve finished moving it.
Lower Price Tag
When it comes time to set up the nursery, a bassinet might be a more affordable alternative to a crib.
The main consideration is that your baby will outgrow their bassinet before you realize it, necessitating the purchase of a crib. Consider this when making decisions.
Saving Space
For the first few months of a baby’s life, most parents choose for a bassinet over a crib in order to conserve room.
Sharing a room with your kid is okay, but not on the same bed, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). They recommend that you stick to this rule until your child is six months old at the latest.
In the absence of a lot of room in your bedroom for a full-sized crib, the bassinet is a good space-saving solution.
Another choice is a micro crib, which is larger than a bassinet but smaller than a standard-sized crib.
Another Option: The Mini Crib
Standard and small cribs are available.
A 52-inch-long by 28-inch-wide conventional crib will comfortably fit your child for several years. It is possible to convert a crib into a toddler bed, allowing your child to have a peaceful night’s sleep at every stage.
A standard-sized crib may not be the ideal choice if you plan to keep your baby in your bedroom.
While most bassinets are smaller than a standard-sized crib, a micro crib is 24 inches by 38 inches and is a wonderful choice if you’re looking to share a room or have a small nursery.
A small crib may allow you to retain your newborn in your room for the time being as they grow into a bigger bed around (or before) their second birthday.
What are your mattress alternatives if you go with this style of crib? Our breathable Crib Mattress, available in both standard and tiny sizes, is a great option.
Your baby will be able to breathe freely even if they roll onto their stomach as they sleep on this soft mattress because it is 100 percent breathable. You don’t want your infant to wake up with a sweltering back because of the breathable fabric!
In addition to being hypoallergenic and washable from cover to core, this mattress does not contain foam, adhesive, latex, or springs.
If a bassinet is still the greatest option for your baby and your family after learning about your options, go for it! It’s a good idea to read our post on what to look for when purchasing a bassinet for your baby before making any final decisions.
Let’s move on to the subject of bassinet mattresses now.
When To Purchase A Bassinet Mattress
As soon as you arrive home from the hospital, your newborn will need a place to sleep! A bassinet is an ideal baby bed, so be sure to put it up well ahead of your due date or the date on which you expect your adopted child to arrive at your home.
There is usually a mattress included in most bassinets. A mattress is required if your bassinet doesn’t include one or if you don’t like the one that comes with it.
Consider replacing your bassinet mattress as soon as possible if it is worn out. Checking how dirty the mattress is, especially if the surface is difficult to clean, is a quick way to determine whether or not it needs to be changed.
Even when your kid is lying down, he or she may spit up quite a little. If you don’t clean up after your baby’s accidents on their bedding, it could lead to an unsafe sleeping environment for your child.
Tips For Choosing The Right Bassinet Mattress
There are a few considerations to bear in mind while looking for a new bassinet mattress for your child. Please have a look at this page to ensure that your infant is secure while they sleep.
1) Put Safety First
Firmness
In the case of a newborn, one of your primary worries is the security of their sleeping environment. Make sure your baby’s mattress is firm if you want to keep him safe as he sleeps.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that your baby’s mattress be firm and comfortable. The suffocation risk is reduced by the solid surface. This could be problematic if your baby’s bassinet mattress is overly soft.
Check to see if your baby’s head makes an indentation in the mattress of his or her bassinet to determine if it is safe or not. The mattress may be too soft if you see an indentation after your child has slept on it.
There is no need for the mattress to be so hard that it makes it difficult for your infant to fall asleep and stay asleep; it only needs to be firm.
Thickness
Another danger of suffocation is a mattress that is too thick for your baby’s bassinet. The problem is that if it’s too thin, your baby won’t be able to wear it comfortably. Both safety and comfort depend on the correct amount of thickness.
Bassinet mattresses should be no more than one and a half inches thick, so that your baby will be comfortable and safe. Anything with a greater thickness poses a risk.
Fit
About 30 to 33 inches length by 15 to 18 inches wide are the typical dimensions of oval or rectangular bassinets. Some bassinets, on the other hand, come in a variety of sizes.
Pay attention to the shape and size of your baby’s bassinet before deciding on a mattress for the bassinet. The mattress must fit tightly inside the bassinet in order to create the safest sleep environment.
To perform this, you must have the necessary dimensions. So, before you start looking, make sure to get the dimensions of your baby’s bassinet.
2) Consider Your Baby’s Comfort
Material
Look for a mattress for your baby’s bassinet covered in a material that is pleasant.
Some mattresses might cause your baby’s skin to itch, resulting in an exceedingly uncomfortable situation for your little one. When this occurs, your baby will have difficulty settling down for naps or sleeping at night.
A thorough mattress assessment is also a good idea for parents who find that their baby is suddenly not sleeping well after days or weeks of uninterrupted slumber.
Support
Choose a mattress that will support your baby’s growth and development so that they may reach all of their developmental milestones as they sleep soundly.
Noisiness
You’ll notice your baby’s Moro Reflex developing around the 28- to 32-week mark and disappearing around three to six months old.
As a result of a sudden loss of support, your baby’s reaction is to spread out their arms, then pull them back in, and then wail.
In the first few months of life, your baby will continue to move a lot in their sleep because of this reflex. And if their bassinet mattress is covered in specific materials, it can generate loud noises as they move.
(We’ve found that plastic-coated mattresses impair your baby’s sleep the most in terms of noise).
Due to the Moro Reflex, if your infant isn’t correctly swaddled, the Moro Reflex can keep them awake at night. When your baby is napping, he or she needs to be snug and warm. A person may be roused to consciousness by the Moro Reflex, or by the noise their mattress makes as a result of it.
When it comes to keeping your baby secure and comfortable while they sleep, Newton Baby’s Organic Cotton Swaddles are the best option.
Organic muslin cotton certified to the Global Organic Textile Standards is used to make these hypoallergenic swaddle blankets. In order to keep your infant comfortable and minimize overheating, the soft fabric is entirely breathable.
Snuggle your baby with our Organic Cotton Swaddles, which may also be used as a breast-feeding cover or light blanket or as a changing pad or stroller cover.
3) Choose A Bassinet Mattress That’s Built To Last
Durability
There should be no evidence of wear and tear for months on a well-made bassinet mattress. If your baby’s mattress degrades after only a few uses, he or she may not receive enough sleep.
How can you tell if the mattress you’re looking at is long-lasting?” Take note of how well it’s made.
A low-quality bassinet mattress, for example, may have lumps and bumps that cause it to fall apart quickly. In addition to being uncomfortable, this surface is also dangerous for your kid.
Waterproof, Washable Cover
To ensure that your baby’s bassinet mattress lasts as long as possible, it must be water-resistant. Why? Due to the fact that your baby will spit up and urinate at some point. It can’t be avoided.
However, there are ways to avoid a dangerous sleeping environment! Choose a waterproof, washable mattress cover for your baby’s bassinet mattress to keep mold and mildew at bay.
You should switch to our Waterproof Crib Mattress Pad once your infant moves into a crib, which is available for cribs and twin beds.
Protection from rain and other elements is provided by the water-resistant, air-permeable fabric. This mattress pad provides an additional 3/8″ of air circulation on the mattress surface, making any crib mattress safer. In the event of an unfortunate mishap, the garment is also machine washable, making cleanup a breeze.
4) Check The Labels
Chemicals
After you buy a goods, it is common for it to emit a noxious odor.
When a product is opened, chemicals are released into the air, which may or may not have a noticeable aroma. It is because of packaging that the air is confined that the chemicals are being released.
Check for plastic and other dangerous elements on the labels of your baby’s bassinet mattress to minimize off-gassing. If you’re unsure about anything, check the materials listed on the bassinet mattress.
Keep seeking for a new bassinet mattress if you find a material that could hurt your child!
Fire Resistance
A two-foot-wide blowtorch open flame for 70 seconds is the new standard for fire retardant chemicals in mattresses as of 2007.
Due to their cost-effectiveness, about 92% of the market (or most major sleep-product brands) utilize highly contentious fire retardants. If you’re concerned about the safety of the fire retardants in your baby’s mattress, look for the GREENGUARD Gold program’s seal of approval.
Underwriters Laboratory (ULGREENGUARD )’s Gold program, which is the most stringent certification available, identifies products as being suitable for use by children.
Greenguard Certified products have been evaluated for over 10,000 chemicals and emissions and passed the tests, satisfying high standards for low emissions levels and ensuring that your indoor air quality is safe.
One step further, the GREENGUARD Gold Certification requires reduced overall VOC emission levels and ensures that goods are suitable for use in schools, nurseries and healthcare facilities.
The cribs, mattresses, and mattress pads we sell at Newton Baby are GREENGUARD Gold Certified.
Safe Sleep In A Bassinet
Choosing a secure bassinet and mattress is an important part of keeping your baby safe while they sleep. Regardless matter whether your baby is sleeping in a bassinet or a crib, make sure to practice safe sleep habits every single day.
Sharing your room (but not your bed) with your infant is one of the safest sleep recommendations, but there are a few more that we’ll go over now.
1) Keep The Bassinet Bare
It’s best to leave the bassinet empty when you put your baby down for the night. A bassinet mattress, if necessary, and your child are all that is required.
Toys, baby pillows, blankets, crib bumpers, and the like can all be choking and suffocation hazards, regardless of how cuddly they appear. Also, if your baby’s bassinet mattress is covered with a fitted sheet, double-check that it does so snugly.
The same guideline applies as soon as your child is placed in a crib. Fitted sheets like our Organic Cotton Sheets are all you need for your baby’s cot! All-around elastic ensures a secure fit on any crib mattress with these luxuriously soft sheets.
Our muslin sheets, like our mattresses, are 100 percent breathable, so your baby can sleep soundly all night long. You can pick from a variety of traditional patterns to go with your nursery’s overall theme.
2) Put Your Baby On Their Back
When putting your baby to sleep or to nap in their naked bassinet, remember to place them on their back at all times. So much better than laying on their back or stomach.
After they start rolling over, what’s the next step? By the time they learn to roll over, which typically occurs around four months of age, they should no longer be wrapped in a swaddle.
If they use their newfound ability to roll over in the middle of the night, you don’t have to wake them up by turning them over.
3) Give Your Baby Tummy Time
Your baby needs stomach time during the day, even if you constantly put them to sleep on their back! It helps children build the muscles they need to accomplish crucial developmental milestones when they spend time face-down.
Both you and your baby must be awake and alert for tummy time to be effective. Getting down on the floor with your kid and bringing their favorite toys will make it a meaningful and pleasurable moment for them.
There is no need to wait until your kid is old enough for tummy time to begin. Put them on your lap or make skin-to-skin contact with them. More information on the benefits of tummy time may be found here.
4) Offer A Pacifier At Bedtime
Giving your baby a pacifier during nap and bedtime is also recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a technique to encourage sound sleep.
Once your baby has mastered nursing, you can begin this process (typically a couple of weeks). Feel free to give the pacifier early if you are not breastfeeding.
Keep in mind the “bare bassinet” guideline when preparing this. There should be no strap on the pacifier. If your infant refuses to use the pacifier for whatever reason, that’s fine, too. It’s not necessary to push it.
5) Care For Yourself And Your Baby
In addition to providing a secure sleeping environment, there are additional things you can do to protect your baby’s health and safety. Of course, this involves looking after both you and your newborn!
Make sure your baby is getting the correct amount of nutrition, whether it’s from nursing or formula, by taking them to their regularly scheduled checkups. When you’re pregnant, you’ll also want to take care of yourself. You can help your infant sleep soundly by abstaining from alcohol and other drugs, as well as by quitting smoking.
Find out more about putting your baby to sleep safely by clicking on this link.
Elevating A Bassinet Mattress For Comfort
It has been suggested that raising the mattress height in your baby’s bassinet may help avoid acid reflux.
Reflux symptoms can be lessened by sleeping in an inclined position.
In the eyes of some parents, this is a miraculous remedy.
You can put your mind at ease by putting the infant to sleep in an incline position.
As well as aiding in the treatment of common colds and colic.
Many doctors and pediatricians continue to prescribe it, despite the growing number of studies showing that this is not the case.
As a cure, some parents are instructed to place their infant in a slightly inclined position while they sleep.
There is no harm in seeing your doctor if you are unsure about whether or not to proceed.
Check to see if they’d be on board with this.
A rolled blanket or pillows, on the other hand, are typically required by doctors to complete the surgery. How, then, can this be done?
Here are the simple steps to follow.
Easy Steps To Elevate A Bassinet Mattress
Experts say it’s not a good idea to use a soft object like a pillow to raise a baby’s head.
Instead, raise the head of the bassinet to help your baby sleep better.
By doing so, you can keep the infant on his back while raising his head.
So, what are the best methods for raising a bassinet mattress?
The following are the actions you should do to raise the mattress in your baby’s bassinet so that he can sleep better and be free of the symptoms that keep him up at night:
Step #1. Taking the mattress out
It is time to remove the bassinet’s mattress and store it somewhere safe.
Step #2. Folding a towel
Tightly roll a towel or two in half.
In this phase, you can just utilize receiving blankets and follow the same steps.
Step #3. Positioning the towel
Put a towel or a receiving blanket on top of the baby’s bassinet for extra warmth.
You need to make sure that it’s positioned such that the baby’s head will rest there.
Step #4. Filling the gap
Put the bassinet’s mattress back in place.
Ensure that there are no gaps between the bassinet and the bed when doing this.
You should avoid putting your child to sleep on his stomach at any time.
Even though this position is more conducive to a baby’s comfort, it also increases the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).
You should visit your pediatrician if your infant is still unable to sleep despite you putting him in an inclined posture.
When And Why Do You Need To Elevate Your Bassinet Mattress?
You need to raise or tilt your baby’s head and face in order to increase fluid drainage away from their face and head.
Elevating an injured or swollen leg or foot can help prevent it from swelling excessively.
A technique like this can also improve blood flow.
The same advice is frequently given to new parents of infants.
In order to alleviate the following issues, most doctors recommend that you place your infant in a slightly inclined sleeping position:
- An infection in the ear.
- Reflux
- Colds are a common occurrence.
- Traffic jams are not the only problem.
The most commonly recommended angle for infants’ inclined sleeping positions is from 15 to 30 degrees.
However, there is some evidence to the contrary, as I’d like to point out.
It’s not clear if raising the baby’s head as he or she sleeps can help with the issues listed above.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is one group that is opposed to this approach.
Another issue is the growing number of articles decrying the use of products like sleep wedges and rock-and-a-byes for inducing an uncomfortable sleeping position.
As a result, I’ve repeatedly stressed in this piece that it’s critical to get the go-ahead from your doctor or pediatrician first.
Some Alternatives To Elevated Sleeping
You may want to look at other options if you don’t like the thought of elevated sleeping.
Alternative #1. Other sleeping positions
Reflux-reducing postures for babies have been suggested, but the safest position for babies to sleep is still on their back.
Alternative #2. Tummy time
If you’re solely using the higher posture to keep flatheads at bay, you have nothing to be concerned about.
Tummy time is essential throughout pregnancy, so don’t forget that.
The 6 Best Bassinet Mattresses
1. Colgate Cradle Pad
The Colgate Cradle Pad (about $41) has been extensively tested to ensure that the design is long-lasting. Yours, on the other hand, could last for a number of children before showing indications of weakness.
- A cover that can withstand water immersion.
- able to withstand being ripped apart
- Foam padding that is thick and comfortable
2. Big Oshi Comfy
An oval-shaped option is provided by the Big Oshi Comfy (about $26). It has a breathable foam inner and a waterproof shell, which should keep your baby from overheating while they sleep.
- Cleans up in a jiffy.
- Has no crinkling noises to it.
- It was manufactured in the United States
3. LA Baby P-1530
A hypoallergenic cover made from blended organic cotton in the LA Baby P-1530 (around $43) ensures that your baby will not be affected by it in any way. Polyurethane construction is phthalate-free and nontoxic.
- Firm, but not suffocating.
- Can withstand up to 50 kg
- a year’s worth of protection
4. Lifekind Certified
Latex rubber in the core and a blend of cotton and wool on the outer make up the Lifekind Certified (about. $299). At just five pounds, it’s a nice option for parents who want to take it on the road with them.
5. Colgate Quilted Cradle Pad
There are virtually no volatile organic compounds emitted by the Colgate Quilted Cradle Pad ($25). It has rounded corners, but straight sides, and measures 30 inches long. Its shape is halfway in between a rectangle and an oval.
- Water-resistant
- It is not readily torn.
- The touch isn’t pleasant.
6. BabyDoll Bedding
The BabyDoll Bedding (about $33), which is made of dense foam, will give your tiny family member the support they need as their heads and spines develop. Even fussy babies may sleep through the night in this cozy crib.
- Is covered in vinyl
- Should last for many years
- It does not have any quilting on it.
It’s A Wrap!
There are some questions and concerns concerning the safety of placing your baby in an inclined posture to sleep.
Baby reflux, colic, and congestion may be alleviated with this method, according to several parents who’ve tried it.
However, new studies have cast doubt on the efficacy of this treatment.
The best course of action is to see a doctor.
Then, if he gives the go-ahead, you can begin testing the elevated sleeping position for your baby.
This is a must-read before I wrap up this article.
Regardless, this is how to raise the mattress in a bassinet.
