Crib safety, like all manners of baby safety, can be a complicated affair. The National Safety Council, or NSC, has a whole list of crib safety tips that get very specific. They cover how high the crib should be, how far apart the slats can be, how tightly the mattress must fit, what materials can and can’t be used to cover it, and all manner of other important technical details, so that it can get pretty overwhelming to even lead the full crib safety list.

Basically, babies being the delicate and not overly bright critters that they are, they can get into all manner of trouble if their crib safety is not carefully safeguarded. For example, they can get their heads stuck between crib slats that are too far apart. They can get out if the latches are defective, and fall to the floor, possibly injuring themselves. They can even get smothered if there is room to crawl under the mattress, or if it is covered with a type of plastic that can get over their faces and smother them.

Honestly, the only way to really re-insure crib safety is to buy a properly certified and modern crib. Of course, if you really are hell bent on using that old hand-me-down family crib that has been yours for generations, it is possible to check this over to make sure that it is a safe crib, but do you really want to be responsible for checking the paint (to make sure that it isn’t lead based), the crib height, the space between the slats, the mattress materials, the security of the hardware, and all manner of other specifics? Wouldn’t it just make more sense to buy a new crib that has already been checked for crib safety by a professional?

Then again, it is good to get in the habit of doing baby safety with a do-it-yourself attitude. As a parent, you can’t possibly have a professional look at everything, so you must get in the habit of learning how to ensure that your baby is safe and secure using your own common sense skills. If you learn how to inspect a crib, it will help you get to understand how to inspect and safeguard the rest of your house, for example baby-proofing electric sockets, cabinets, closets, tables, and anything else where these precious little creatures can be hurt.