The health and safety of your baby is always a top priority. When it comes to sleep, that means understanding the risks and taking the appropriate measures to ensure your infant is safe. One key factor in this regard is how close a bassinet should be placed to your bed. Knowing the correct guidelines for proper placement can help you create an environment that promotes healthy sleeping habits for babies while minimizing potential hazards. In this article, we will discuss what experts recommend when determining how close a bassinet should be located near your bed.
How close should bassinets be to beds
A bassinet should be placed at least 1 foot away from your bed to ensure the safety of your infant. You shouldn’t keep the bassinet next to the bed as it can cause some potential risk of suffocation. There are some factors that can intervene how close the bassinet should be to bed, such as the room space, whether you use fan or air conditioner. Understand how these factors impact on positioning the bassinet helps you to find the right spot for it.
Understanding safe sleep guidelines for infants
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has some recommendations about how close a bassinet should be to your bed. They suggest that you keep the bassinet close enough so that you can easily reach it, but far enough away so that there is no risk of suffocation or other dangers.
The bassinet should also be placed away from windows, cords and any other objects that could be hazardous to your baby’s safety.
Tips for positioning your baby’s bassinet
Finding the right distance between the bassinet and your bed
The recommendation of AAP is quite vague, so it is a little hard for you to decide a fixed spot for your baby bassinet. But don’t worry. After a few nights, you will have it figured out.
From my experience, I realize the right distance between the bassinet and my bed is around 2 feet. Why?
Because I needed some space to get up and put my feet on the floor before reaching for my son. It is very much in the way if you leave the bassinet too close to the bed. You probably have to move away to put your feet down, as you surely don’t want to knock the bassinet over!
Also, that 2 feet is enough for me to react quickly at night, while is enough to blow away my drowsiness.
Avoid windows
Babies should not have their bassinet near a window. This is because direct heat, cold or sunlight from the window can be uncomfortable for them and make it hard for them to sleep. It’s important to keep your baby as comfortable as possible when they are sleeping.
Avoid direct wind blow from the air conditioner
Another thing to avoid is having the bassinet directly in front of an air conditioner. When I put my son to sleep, I want the room to be cool, but I don’t want him to get the direct hit from the conditioned air. It can cause dry nose or he gets too cold before I feel it.
Avoid straight wind blow from the fan up baby’s nose
If you have a fan, it should not be too near the bassinet. And the fan wind shouldn’t blow straight up your baby’s nose. I don’t know if it is a thing, but I feel like it can make my son’s nose dry and make it harder for him to breathe in. (I know I feel uncomfortable having a fan blowing up my nose that way!). I usually keep my fan several feet away from the bassinet and blow it from my son’s side.
If you wonder whether fan or air conditioner can make babies sick and which one is better for babies, read my article on “How to choose between air conditioner and fan?“
Nothing in the way between you and the bassinet
This is quite obvious, but I still want to stress it here. Try to make sure nothing is blocking your way when you are going to the bassinet. Anything that can slow you down when you have to get up quick should not be in the way of your baby’s bassinet.
Near the closet for diapers
I also like to keep the bassinet near the closet for diapers, so I can quickly get diapers and clothes for my son whenever he needs a change. It saves me from having to go across the room.
Conclusion
It is important to find the right distance between your bed and bassinet so that you can reach it easily and quickly. Make sure to keep any loose items away from the bassinet, and check its structure regularly for potential hazards. The AAP suggests keeping the bassinet close enough so that you can easily reach it, but far enough away so that there is no risk of suffocation or other dangers. If you follow these tips, your baby can get the safest and most restful sleep possible.