Establishing a safe sleep Environment for Baby with HALO Bassinest

Having a new little bundle is such an emotional experience. Your emotions are running on high from the excitement. Your heart just grew 4 sizes bigger to include a new angel. And yet you are also fighting the emotions of your hormones out of wack, recovering from the long 9 months to create this beautiful baby, and you are sleep deprived with being up with the baby all night. To say things are a bit out of balance is putting it mildly. And now you have to worry about a safe sleep environment for your baby.

Did you know that October is SIDS Awareness Month? I really wanted to share these tips for a safe sleep environment for your baby during October to coincide with SIDS awareness. But thanks to the sleep deprivation of having a new baby myself, it didn’t happen. So now here we are in November. It’s a little later than I planned, but the topic is still quite relevant. How do you offer a safe sleep environment for a new baby?

The scariest thing most parents hear before leaving the hospital (besides no longer having the awesome nurses there to take care of you every second) is SIDS. SIDS scares all parents. And then you have parents and grandparents and even random strangers from older generations telling you how to take care of baby. And all the “in my day we laid baby on their tummy…” or the “no, you need to prop them on their side” or even the “you need to make the room super warm for baby to sleep” begins to overwhelm and confuse you.

Trust me, after 4 babies we have heard it all. And everyone seems to have a new idea of what is really safe for baby when it comes to sleep. But you are the parent. Don’t let others urge you to care for your baby in a way that is contrary to current medical recommendations.

Safe Sleep Recommendations

Currently there are a list of recommendations to ensure safe sleep for baby. These are current and what is recommended for now. These are what reduce the risk of SIDS and offers you a level of confidence that you have done all you can to ensure safe sleep for your baby.

ALWAYS

•   Place baby to sleep on his or her back at naptime and at night time.
•  Room-share, but don’t bed share; the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend against bed sharing as it can lead to an increased risk for accidental suffocation.
•  Use a crib or bassinet that meets current safety standards with a firm mattress that fits snugly and is covered with only a tight-fitting crib sheet.
•  Remove all soft bedding and toys from your baby’s sleep area (this includes loose blankets, bumpers, pillows and positioners). The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests using a wearable blanket instead of loose blankets to keep your baby warm.
•  Offer a pacifier when putting baby to sleep. If breastfeeding, introduce pacifier after one month or after breastfeeding has been established.
•  Breastfeed, if possible, but when finished, put your baby back to sleep in his or her separate safe sleep area alongside your bed.

NEVER

•  Never put your baby to sleep on any soft surface (adult beds, sofas, chairs, water beds, quilts, sheep skins etc.)
•  Never dress your baby too warmly for sleep; keep room temperature 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit.
•  Never allow anyone to smoke around your baby or take your baby into a room or car where someone has recently smoked.

Last September we were surprised and our little angel Rose decided to make her debut 2 weeks early. I wasn’t quite prepared. I thought maybe she would come early, but not 2 weeks!

When we got home from the hospital I found that my recovery was going much slower than it did with my other babies. The last thing I wanted was to have our baby all alone in her own room. Away from me. It is hard to get up multiple times in the middle of the night. Especially since I was still in quite a bit of pain.

Thankfully our HALO bassinest arrived on Wednesday evening, the day before we had to go in for an emergency inducement. So it was here at our house when we arrived home from the hospital. The husband went right up and set it up next to our bed.

I can’t even tell you how much peace this bassinet has brought to my mind over the last month and a half. To be able to have my baby girl right next to me all night long. I can turn and check on her at any time in the night. I can see her easily through the mesh sides.

The little built in light is a heaven send! I can turn on the little light and I can see well enough to check on our baby. Now I don’t have to turn on the extra bright light in the room that will wake everyone up. And I can easily nurse her right there in bed, without having to get up.

What makes the HALO bassinest so amazing is that we get all the benefits of cosleeping, but the security of safe sleep for both baby and Mom. The HALO bassinest adjusts to any height. So you can have it level with your bed. And thanks to the stand you can have it right next to your bed. I’m talking touching the mattress people! So it’s almost as if it is an extension of your bed.

But here is where it is better than any other bassinet, the dual-swivel design ! That means if you need to get out of bed, you can easily swivel the basket out of the way, so you can stand up. The legs are still secure on the ground. So it’s not rolling around. But the bassinet has a 360 swivel so it can move out of the way for easy access to your bed.

The sides are all mesh so it allows for safer environment for baby to breath. There isn’t a chance of baby getting up against the edges and suffocating. And the front side wall can be pushed down for easier access for you to lift baby out for nighttime feeding. Or to just reach over and calm your baby at night. The design is ideal for Moms recovering from a C-section. But also for Moms who are just struggling with recovering like I was.

And it even has handy pockets on both ends on the outside. This is where I store the burp rags and the little tummy remedy for when she has colic and her binky. I can easily reach everything I need right from my bed.

You can see the HALO Bassinest in action with this short video below.

I truly have loved our HALO Bassinest. It has allowed us to safely have Miss Rose close to us at night. Yet still in a very safe sleep environment. In addition to using the HALO Bassinest, we also use the HALO® SleepSack®. These are amazing wearable blankets. They let baby be swaddled safely. They keep her warm at night. Yet there are no loose blankets to cause a suffocation hazard.

Rose likes the comfort of the HALO SleepSack Swaddle. It keeps her warm, and offers her comfort in being swaddled. She sleeps soundly and that means Mom gets to sleep soundly as well.

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You can purchase your own HALO Bassinest from HaloBassinest.com or from AMAZON.

What safe sleep tips do you have to share?