Before traveling with an infant, consider the following: How will he or she sleep (or not sleep) away from home? Should your infant sleep in your bed? Are car seats OK for overnight sleeping? Are hand-me-down cribs at grandmother’s house acceptable? What about cribs available in hotels?
Are portable travel cribs safe?
Here is what you should know.
1. Take an overnight trip before planning longer ones. Travel often worsens infants’ sleeping patterns, especially for infants between six and twelve months of age. One possible reason is families sleeping in the same room. Crying infants wake up older siblings, turning your night into a nightmare.
2. Try to maintain routine schedules. While travel necessitates change, infants seem to sleep best when their everyday feeding/napping/going outdoors/bathing schedules remains close to normal. Resist well-meaning adults’ requests for keeping infants awake for evening get-togethers or giving them snacks at inappropriate times.
3. Expect infants to sleep less well at altitude and after certain air travel. The same is true for older children and for adults. Difficulty falling asleep and frequent waking occurs to people of all ages at altitudes over 5,000 feet, and worsens as altitude increases (see TenTips: Altitude). Infants also experience jetlag. Flights through many time zones disturb the 24-hour rhythms to which our bodies are accustomed. It generally takes a few days for sleep schedules to adjust to altitude and new time zones.
4. Car seats are OK for sleeping. Many infants sleep well in car seats, especially when the alternative is a strange crib in unfamiliar surroundings. Car seats are not harmful for infants’ backs, even when they sleep in the car seat all night. (The semi-upright position may actually be beneficial for infants who have upper respiratory infections.)
5. Avoid “co-sleeping.” Infants sleeping in the same bed with adults have been injured when adults rolled onto them or the infant fell off the bed – no matter how ingeniously adults tried to prevent such accidents, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. Also, infants have experienced serious breathing difficulties by burying their heads into pillows, comforters and loose bed linen. Co-sleeping slightly increases the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and the risk is further increased when parents are obese or sleep soundly. A practical issue of co-sleeping is getting infants back to sleeping by themselves upon returning home.
6. Think twice before using “heirloom” cribs, says Consumers Union. Many older cribs do not meet current safety specifications. Stringent upgrades in crib design went into effect in 1970 and in 2000. The bars of cribs made prior to 1970 may have too wide spacing, for example. (Check your crib at home.) Very old cribs may have been painted with lead-containing paints. For more safety information go to www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5020.html
Avoid cradles. These are popular overseas. While cradles are quaint, babies can roll so far to one side that the cradle fails to rock back in the other direction and topples over. Most cradles have pins to prevent this but the pins may be broken or missing.
7. Check cribs in hotels for safety. Look for cribs that look new, have firm and tight-fitting mattresses – two fingers should not fit between the edge of the mattress and the side of the crib and a regular can of soda should not fit between the slats. Also, the crib should not have protruding parts, screws, bolts or cutouts in the head or footboard, which can trap an infant’s head or limb.
Bumpers are not essential. These pads are soft cushions that fit around the inside of a crib to help prevent infants from hitting their heads against the crib bars. However, it is highly unlikely that infants can move against crib bar or even fall with sufficient force to injure themselves. Moreover, for older infants, bumpers are the first step in falling out of the crib.
8. Buy a portable travel crib. Numerous types are available – you can easily find them online. Such cribs are lightweight, fold easily and compactly, are easy to clean, and have not been used by others. Some are specific for infants of certain height and weight and constructed so that older infants cannot easily climb out. Know how to assemble it. Consider allowing your infant to sleep in it for a few nights prior to travel to familiarize them with it. Portable cribs can also be used outdoors to keep infants safe.
9. Place cribs in safe locations. For older infants, avoid areas near window blinds, shades and drapes to prevent strangulation and away from furniture that can ease climbing out. Place cribs either flush against the wall or several feet from the wall so in case infants do climb out they will not become wedged between the wall and the crib. Secure cribs with wheels. Place pillows on the floor around the crib, just in case.
10. Consider packing mosquito netting and safety netting. Insect bites are annoying and occasionally, transmit disease (see TenTips: Insects). Versatile insect nets are available to fit cribs, playpens and/or strollers. Nets must fit snuggly to be effective and the netting weave must be sufficiently tight to keep small insects out.
Safety nets that form a dome over cribs are available. These in effect “imprison” older infants, and keep pets out.
