Baby Safety Tips Every Parent Should Know

Below are 16 basic safety precautions of which new parents should be aware:

1. Don't put baby to bed with a bottle. Babies can choke or develop ear infections, tooth decay and other dental problems from having anything but water in their mouths overnight.
 
2. For neck support, and because a newborn can't sit up, roll a towel or receiving blanket or buy a support pillow that goes around the newborn's head. You'll use this in the car seat, stroller and wind-up swing. (Because newborns can't sit up, many umbrella strollers - the easy folding, simple-looking, portable one-seat strollers - don't give newborns the support they need, or are not sufficiently padded.)

3. Make sure your stroller has seat belts and crotch straps and that you use them. Strollers should have a wide base to prevent tipping and brakes that work.

4. Don't have aspirin around for children. It's been linked with Reye's Syndrome, which can be fatal. Never give a newborn anything the pediatrician hasn't recommended, anyway.

5. Don't use baby powder or talcum on a newborn because it can be inhaled into the baby's lungs.

6. Never tie a pacifier (or any other items on a string) around a baby's neck. Don't use homemade pacifiers. Pull on pacifiers and nipples frequently to make sure the nipple-part can't be sucked off and inhaled, and see that it has no holes or tears. The guard or shield around the nipple of the pacifier should be too big to fit in the baby's mouth and should have ventilation holes so the baby could breathe if it did get in there, anyhow.

7. Keep toys on strings, drapery cords, laundry bags or other items with strings off the crib and away from newborns to avoid strangulation. Mobiles on cribs should be securely fastened and not have long strings or ribbons (remove them before the child can reach them).

8. The slats of the crib should be no wider than 2 3/8 inches apart. Be sure to check, especially if using an antique, hand-me-down or secondhand crib. Mattresses should fit snugly up against the sides and there should be no corner posts.

9. Install a smoke detector in the nursery.

10. If you have a playpen or portable crib with mesh sides, never use it with a side left down. Newborns could roll into the mesh pocket and suffocate. Better yet, don't use mesh-sided playpens.

11. Never, not even once around the block, take your baby in the car without him or her being strapped in the car seat, and the car seat properly belted in the car (read manufacturer's directions). Car seat use is the law. And never use a carrier device or sling-type seat as a car seat.

12. Changing tables should have safety straps and/or railings to prevent the baby from falling off.

13. Don't use honey in any food or on the pacifier for babies less than a year old. It can cause infant botulism.

14. Empty the crib, bassinet or playpen when baby sleeps to prevent suffocation. That means no pillows, stuffed animals or floppy toys. Don't lay babies face-down on super-soft pads, pillows or bean bag chairs into which they can sink. Don't cover the crib mattress in anything like a plastic garbage bag, dry cleaning bag or light plastic sheet. All of these things can block a newborn's breathing.

15. Crib or play gyms should be used only until the child is old enough to pull up and push up on hands and knees. Remove the gym when the baby is sleeping. (You may wish to use this only on the floor, with baby lying on a soft blanket.)

16. Keep small toys away from small babies. Toys go automatically into mouths and choking can, and does, result. Newborns can't yet put toys in their mouths, but older siblings can. It's illegal for toy manufacturers to put small parts in toys for children under age three, but be especially careful of older toys with parts that can be pulled off, like teddy bear eyes, or parts that can break into small pieces. Anything that fits into a toilet paper roll is too small for baby to have.