Safety tips for your baby’s sleep

Sleep is a vital element of a baby’s health and development. Your baby should sleep alone, on his or her back in a crib, until grown up enough to climb out of it. A crib provides an enclosed, protected environment. Here are a few more essential safety considerations that can help you to better cope with one of a parent’s biggest challenges.

In a white GULLIVER crib, a baby in a pink LEN sleep bag is asleep on a mattress with a pink LEN fitted sheet.

A SNIGLAR crib with mattress and a white LENAST fitted sheet by a brown wall, a cloud white UPPLYST LED wall lamp nearby.

A good crib is the foundation of a peaceful sleep

In their first year of life, most babies will sleep for around 12-15 hours each day. So, how you prepare the crib is vital for your peace of mind, since baby will spend so much time there.

Below, you can read about what to have – or not have – in and around the crib. Essentially, the crib should contain no more than a firm mattress and a fitted sheet. To keep baby warm enough – and to minimize the risk of overheating – you should use light sleeping clothing, adjusted to the room temperature.

A beech SNIGLAR crib with only a mattress and fitted sheet in it, while a changing table is next to it with a GULLIGAST mobile that hangs high above it.

Did you know

A crib should not have anything in it other than a firm mattress and a fitted sheet.

Baby safety in and around the crib

IKEA cribs are designed, built and tested to be safe for your baby. But it’s important to consider also how you dress the crib and what other home furnishings may be nearby in the room.

The legs and partial torso of a baby wearing brown socks and shorts, lying on a dotted LENAST fitted sheet in a white crib.

A few tips for the crib

Use a firm baby mattress, to avoid the risk of an obstruction to baby’s breathing. The crib and mattress should have the same dimensions, to avoid the risk of entrapment or suffocation.
Fitted sheets should be the same dimension as the mattress – a tight fit avoids loose textiles in baby’s bed.
Use a mattress protector of breathable materials at first to avoid risk of suffocation. Those made of non-breathable materials are only for children aged over 3 years.
The crib base must be lowered to its lowest setting once the baby can sit up unaided, to minimize the risk of falling from the crib.
Take away the crib's removable side or switch to a toddler bed frame when your child is big enough to climb out of the crib, to avoid the risk of falls.

A child with a pacifier and clothed in dark blue stands in a white GULLIVER crib as an adult leans in with a gray soft toy.

A few tips for safety around the crib

Keep curtains and the cords of lamps or blinds out of reach – strangulation and suffocation are serious dangers for babies.
Keep out of reach: canopies, baby mobiles and long textiles that hang over the crib.
Place the crib away from radiators, hot pipes and direct sunlight – baby’s skin is thin and can burn easily.
Keep furniture at a safe distance from the crib so that baby can’t use it to climb out – risking a fall, entrapment or strangulation.
Never attach hooks, handles or such to the crib – your baby could get caught when moving around in the crib.