Nothing speaks peace louder for new moms than seeing their baby sound asleep. A few minutes of silence is nothing less than heaven. Therefore, a parent needs to learn how to make crib mattress higher to ensure a longer, peaceful nap.
How to Make a Crib Mattress Higher? Essential Steps For Your Baby’s Safety
Cribs are a necessary but frequently challenging component of the system. Your baby is a tiny bundle of joy, nestled securely in their cot, so securing the bindings of the crib is necessary for safety measures.
Moreover, this blog will highlight the importance of cribs and how to increase them for increased safety. Follow the steps in this blog for an easy DIY solution for a more extended period.
Why Is It Important To Raise A Crib?
Lifting the crib mattress during the first few months of life might ease the pressure on your back from frequently picking up and putting down your child.
Additionally, the mattress position becomes crucial to your child’s safety as they learn to sit and stand independently.
The primary justification for lifting the crib mattress is ease for parents: Your life will be easier if there is less leaning into the crib. Secondly, for Baby Safety, A raised bed prevents little explorers from falling out of the crib.
Is It Safe To Increase The Crib Height?
It’s vital to go over certain safety precautions before we get started.
Numerous babies sustain injuries in crib mattresses in a variety of ways, per a US study.
According to the survey, approximately 180,000 children under two received treatment for crib and bassinet-related injuries during the previous 18 years.
Let’s be honest: not everyone can afford a nanny or caretaker who can keep an eye on your infant while you cater to other necessities in the house.
Therefore, if you routinely adjust your crib mattress, the crib won’t harm your baby. Raising or lowering the height of the crib mattress is relatively safe.
Thus, adjusting the crib mattress’s height is entirely safe and has been proven by thousands of users.
Reasons For Increasing A Crib Mattress Height?
Let’s discuss some of the reasons why how to make crib mattress higher is essential.
- Baby Reflux:
Most babies suffer from Reflux and can have trouble sleeping on their backs. Laying down straight can make their acidic stomach fluids go upwards towards the esophagus.
Once that leads to the esophagus, the acidic feeling can cause an unpleasant burning sensation, which can cause your baby to vomit and go into a bawling spree for an entire night.
Hence, laying them in an inclined position helps reduce the risks of refluxes.
- Congestion:
Congestion results from a cold or allergies, making it difficult for your baby to breathe and sleep comfortably at night.
Therefore, when you learn how to raise a crib mattress, the inclining mechanism helps release the mucus buildup and makes breathing more accessible for the baby.
- Offers More Mobility:
When you place your crib in the lowest setting, the problems of putting and taking your baby in and out of the crib become a headache and almost a spine injury for your back.
Therefore, adjusting the crib to a perfect height is crucial for both parents and the baby. So, mobility makes an impactful difference.
How To Make Crib Mattress Higher? Step-By-Step Guide:
Although it may seem complicated, raising or lowering the crib mattress is usually simple. Regarding your child’s safety, the most important thing is to be thorough and never take shortcuts.
Most cribs have height adjustments available, and this tutorial explains how to use them. These measures should put you on the correct path, regardless of whether you’re brushing off the nursery for a new arrival or you’re a first-time parent:
Equipment You’ll Need
Make sure you have the required equipment before you begin. Typically, you’ll need:
- A screwdriver or Allen wrench (as directed in your handbook)
- Consult the instruction manual for your crib for further details.
- A measuring tape for confirming measurements
10 Step Guide On How To Make Crib Mattress Higher:
- Peruse the Instruction Manual: Prioritize reading the instructions included with your crib. Every brand and model has a different mechanism, and it’s important to know yours.
- Determine the Height Configurations: There are often two to four height-adjustable options on cribs. Find these on the frame of your crib before you begin the modification process.
- Assemble the necessary tools: most crib changes require an Allen wrench or a screwdriver. Keep these close to prevent rushing to find tools in the middle of the task.
- Safety first: Ensure the crib is solid and empty before losing fasteners. Avoid taking the chance of it toppling over.
- To unscrew the bolts, keep the mattress support in place, and use your tool. You can alter the height by loosening them, but don’t remove them altogether.
- Get Assistance: At this point, getting assistance from someone is more accessible. One can hold the mattress support while the other person adjusts the bolts.
- Move the bed’s support to the appropriate height and tighten it. Before pulling the bolts back into place, make sure it is positioned evenly at each corner twice.
- Checks for safety: Give the crib a slight shake to ensure everything is secure once the bolts have been tightened. Verify that there is no wobbling and that all bolts are securely fastened.
- Check for Gaps: Make sure there aren’t any spaces between the crib walls and the mattress before putting your child back in it. A potential safety risk is a gap.
- Final Review: Recheck your handbook to ensure you have noticed all safety instructions and brand-specific advice.
You’re improving your baby’s safety precautions and guaranteeing a more comfortable height for yourself when you carefully follow these instructions.
Even though it may seem like a minor duty in the larger scheme of parenting, how to make crib mattress higher is nonetheless quite significant.
Precautions To Take While Adjusting the Crib:
Sometimes, DIY stuff takes up much of our time and hard work. In such cases, working with heavy materials or tools can often lead to accidents and injuries. Therefore, you need to take extra precautions and stay safe:
- Verify Tightness: Ensure all bolts are tight after making any necessary adjustments.
- Frequent Monitoring: Make sure the crib is firm by giving it a once-over.
- Be Aware of the Gap: Make sure there are no unsafe spaces between the sides of the crib and the mattress.
When Should You Elevate Your Crib’s Mattress?
Sleeping with an inclined or raised posture encourages fluid to drain from the head and face region.
It’s similar to keeping your foot or leg elevated after an injury to promote improved circulation and less swelling.
The most often advised angle for babies to sleep on an incline is between 15 and 30 degrees. (Make sure to keep it slightly low)
Before we continue discussing how to raise a crib, there is one more item I want to bring up.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is among those who oppose raising a baby’s head as they sleep.
These days, a lot of advice advises against using any type of inclined sleep aid, including rock and plays and sleep wedges.
It would be best to see your pediatrician or personal physician before attempting to perform this at home. Certain medical professionals will still recommend inclined sleeping to treat specific ailments. Also, check our article on Are More Coils Better In A Mattress.
Alternate Method On How To Make Crib Mattress Higher?
Purchasing a crib wedge to increase the height of your crib mattress is one of the easiest and fastest ways to achieve the size you want and will only cost you a few bucks.
Purchase a high-quality crib wedge beneath the crib mattress to enable incline napping. Even though doing it this way may cost you somewhere from $20 to $50, there are a few benefits.
Some of their benefits are:
- The sleeping surfaces should be highly safe since they are level and flat.
- Since they are made to be crib-width, no additional material will protrude.
- Every time, they will provide you with the ideal incline.
Moreover, you can also find inclined cribs from the get-go where the head is slightly raised. These are one of our favorite options because they are 100% safe and require no DIY solutions.
Wrapping It Up!!
How to make crib mattress higher is essential for parents to learn and pay attention to because a newborn baby is one of the most fragile things in the world. You have to be extra careful around them because they are in their early development stages.
However, always remember that the baby’s health comes first, and you cannot compromise. But before jumping to any conclusion, speak to your pediatrician and assigned doctor for a confirming heads-up.
We hope this blog cleared up all the steps you need to follow and other alternatives to work in your favor, and you can now enjoy a good night’s sleep without worrying about your baby’s health. For more in-depth knowledge about mattresses check out our beginners guide to mattresses blog.
FAQs
Why are crib mattresses so low?
The mattress in your new crib will likely have two or three height options that you may adjust. Lower settings keep babies from climbing or tumbling out of the crib as they age. The highest level makes it much easier to get the baby safely into and out of the crib during newborn time.
At what age do you stop using a crib mattress?
You switch a toddler’s bed between 18 months and three years. When young people outgrow and climb out of the crib or show any indication that they want a new mattress, they are ready for a bed. Throughout the adjustment, involve the child, put safety first, and stick to your schedule.
What is the maximum height for a crib mattress?
When measuring from seam to seam, the height of any crib mattress cannot be greater than 6 inches. It makes it more difficult for infants to get out of their cots as they age.