WHAT OPTIONS DO I HAVE IF I HAVE A VERY WRIGGLY BABY?

Safe T Sleep's most Frequently Asked Question:

For downward creeping babies Simply position the Sleepwrap anywhere on the mattress. The clever little leg piece prevents downward creeping.
For forward creeping babies Many parents find it helpful to position the Sleepwrap towards the top end of the mattress allowing only a few centimeters between baby’s head and the cot/crib or bed frame.

Another helpful hint may be to elevate the top end of the baby’s bed, either by using large books or blocks underneath the feet of the bed. It is more difficult for a young baby during the high SIDS-risk period to creep upwards and almost impossible when in a Sleepwrap! :)

For the Amazing wriggly, ‘Olympic-Houdini type’ babies :)

Many parents find using a swaddling wrap or an approved sleeping bag together with the Sleepwrap is the best solution for their very wriggly baby. Simply tuck the leg piece away or cleverly thread through the seat belt openings on the ‘travel type’ sleeping bags.

See: http://www.safetsleep.com/testimonials/
Also see: http://www.safetsleep.com/frequently-asked-questions/

Additional Benefits of the Sleepwrap® part4

COMFORT, SECURITY AND ADDED SAFETY FOR BABIES OUT OF THE HIGH SIDS-RISK PERIOD

* While it is easier to introduce the Sleepwrap to young babies, it is our experience, since 1992, that it only takes six sleeps at the most for an older baby to enjoy the ‘wrap’ sensation.

* When travelling with toddlers introduce the Sleepwrap in a relaxed, fun way using ‘education through play’.

* An older child may have control over its use.

* A baby out of the high SIDS risk period, considered to be approx 8 -12 months, can be taught, to turn within the Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap. This is one of the great benefits of the Sleepwrap as older babies are then able to sleep in their desired sleep position.

* Many Pediatricians feel this is safe when babies have a strong neck, are able to turn by themselves from back to tummy and back again. And of course are out of the high SIDS-risk period.

An older child once out of the high SIDS- risk period, and able to turn from back to tummy and back again, may sleep in their desired sleep position.

More comfort and safety on a bed from newborn to 3 years plus!

Additional Benefits of the Sleepwrap® part3

HELPS PREVENT FLAT OR MISSHAPEN HEADS


The Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap together with the HEADwedge assists parents and caregivers to position baby’s head on alternate sides. This helps ensure a nicer head shape. According to International Studies there has been 300% increase in hospital admissions worldwide since 1996! Over 4% of these babies need surgery. Well over 15% of babies heads globally do not return to an acceptable shape. Most are entirely ‘preventable’.


The Safe T Sleep HEADwedge is especially suitable for newborn to nine months of age.
The Safe T Sleep HEADwedge helps assist parents and caregivers to position baby’s head on alternate sides to help prevent flat/deformed heads.

Use the HEADwedge on alternate sides at each sleep to help position baby’s head.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Use together with the Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap and tuck WELL underneath the Sleepwrap.

 
 
 
 
 
The younger the baby, the softer the head. The Sleepwrap and HEADwedge combination helps ensure a safe baby and a nice head shape

Additional Benefits of the Sleepwrap® part2

CONVENIENT FOR TRAVELLING AND VISITING:
Safe, compact, light and practical - BED IN A BAG

Can be rolled up and placed in a bag or backpack, glove box or briefcase providing a great, compact, practical alternative to bulky travel cots.

ON A BOAT OR PLANE

PRACTICAL, PEACE OF MIND AND PORTABLE SAFETY!

Boaties (including America’s Cup families) use the Sleepwrap with babies and children up to 6 or 7 years of age, visit: http://www.safetsleep.com/boating/

Illustrations by: Elise Hoogsteden-Roberts

Benefits of the Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap part1....

PEACE OF MIND FOR PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS AND CAREGIVERS:

• as the Sleepwrap gives a few extra moments to attend to a waking baby,
• helping prevent baby climbing and/or falling from a cot/crib or bed

WHILE ‘ASLEEP’ BABY IS SAFER FROM:

• the risks of tummy sleeping
• potentially dangerous creeping underneath blankets
•  forward creeping, jamming against a hard surface or into a corner
• limbs becoming jammed in cot bars
• the risk of rolling off a bed
• baby becoming too hot or too cold

VERSATILE:

• fits most bedding worldwide so it is not essential to buy, particularly, bassinets or portable cots. Baby sleeps more safely anywhere there is a bed or mattress. IT IS LITERALLY A BED IN A BAG!
• due to the rigorous product and fabric trials and testing, hospital clinical trials, hospital laundry testing, top quality fabric, industrial strength thread, manufacturing and quality control procedures the Sleepwrap’s are of exceptionally high quality which under usual conditions will last up to four years

LONGER, MORE RESTFUL SLEEP:

• by providing a cosy comfortable feeling of security for babies. There are hundreds of years of well documented evidence that most babies respond well to the secure feeling of boundaries just as in the womb.

IDEAL FOR REFLUX, COLDS, COLIC POSITIONING:

• as the bed may be tilted at the top end of the bed and the Sleepwrap will help ensure baby is safe,
• secure, comfortable and unable to slip underneath the blankets

YOU CANNOT PUT A PRICE ON A BABY’S SAFETY

see part2 next week :)

Stories and people behind product videos. Safe-T-Sleep Baby Sleepwrap.

Most of us watch product videos to learn about products, but sometimes stories behind those videos and products are so inspiring that it makes you want to learn more about people who invented the product and brought it to life.

We are talking today to Anton Karl Rutherford from Safe-T-Sleep, a company from New Zealand who is relatively new to American market but if their success in new Zealand is any indication – we will hear more about this company and their incredible product very soon.
HandBookLive team worked with Safe-T-Sleep to help create a voice over for the wonderful animated videos that Safe-T-Sleep had produced and posted on HandBookLive.com.

Before we get to the story behind the product let’s watch this video to learn about Safe-T-Sleep sleepwrap and how it works.

Safe-T-Sleep Sleepwrap is used by over 200,000 babies worldwide!

Laura Beken: “Anton, I understand that it was your mother who invented this incredible product for the babies. What was her story? How did it come about?”
Anton Karl Rutherford: “Yes, the Original Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap was invented by my mother who nursed several babies who had been admitted to hospital due to falls from their cot. She decided that this type of accident could be prevented which eventually resulted in the creation of the Sleepwrap. The product was not put on the market until our neighbor said (over dinner one evening) that the Sleepwrap should be made available to everybody! So Mum decided to engage several sewing ladies in New Zealand and went about making Sleepwraps.”
Laura Beken: “What was the biggest challenge?”

Anton Karl Rutherford: “One of the biggest challenges we faced was that it required years of educating and demonstrating the product. Showing how the product works to both the medical profession and general population in New Zealand required a huge effort. On our information site www.safetsleep.com there are numerous testimonials that we’ve obtained over the years proving that we’ve overcome this challenge. The second biggest challenge is repeating this effort globally!”

Laura Beken: “What is your main strategy for reaching the US market?”
Anton Karl Rutherford: “We feel that our new website, www.safesleepsolutions.com will enable us to do so by providing customers an understanding of how the product works and the main benefits through the visual 3D Animation Clips we’ve created. Our video on HandBookLive.com allows retailers to embed our product video to help them sell our product. The product packaging doesn’t really show the customer what the product does so some form of visual add is essential for our product. We are passionate about overcoming our second biggest challenge and continue to work alongside people who can support us. What we keep on reminding ourselves is that the product was invented to prevent accidents whilst creating peace of mind for parent which is a pretty cool thing!”

Laura Beken: “I understand you are actively looking for retailers who will help sell your product in the US?”
Anton Karl Rutherford: “Yes we are. We would love to team up with great companies who care about baby products and baby safety as much as we do. You can email us about partnership opportunities at sales@safesleepsolutions.com And of course we encourage everyone to help spread the word by embedding our videos. Anyone including retailers can do it via the HandBookLive player by going to the player and simply clicking on the embed tab in the Info panel and copying the embed code”.
Laura Beken: “What made you decide to do a video for your product and what was the main goal?”

Anton Karl Rutherford: “We felt that with our product it was essential to show parents how the product is fitted and why there is a need for this type of product. Education is still a big part of our business. The video shows how the product is fitted and the main benefits/reasons why the product was invented which to help prevent falls from cots, help provide a central sleeping position and help prevent flat head syndrome. We feel these are the three key things/message we wish to get across”
Laura Beken: “How long did it take you to produce the video and what were the challenges?”
Anton Karl Rutherford: “We spent approximately 6 months writing the scripts and guiding the 3D Animation company. This was a big learning curve for us as we didn’t understand/appreciate how complicated it would be to create these clips. Everything was documented in a project plan to avoid any confusion.”
Laura Beken: “I think it is a beautiful and very informative video, and thank you for letting HandBookLive help with the voice over – we truly enjoyed working on this project, and we are all very excited about your product, and hope that soon it will be as well known in the United States as it is in New Zealand. Good luck to you, and thank you for sharing your story!”

To view this new 3D Animation with voice over please click here: http://bit.ly/bLy06c

Why on earth did I invent the Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap - part 2?

Continued on from last weeks post....

After my experiences as a nurse I knew there was a definite danger of my son falling out of his cot.  Nobody around me at the time seemed to have any practical answers.  Although many knew or had experienced babies climbing and falling out of cots and off beds, it is, even today a largely unspoken territory – a ‘hidden’ statistic. It is my experience that this is largely due to the shock and guilt that parents and caregivers often experience when this type of fall has occurred.

In the workshops and seminars I facilitated over a period of twenty years, mothers’ stories highlight  the intense guilt felt by mums whose babies had fallen from a cot or bed.

Putting him into a single bed at eight-nine months of age did not seem a good solution to me, as he could roll out. There were many ‘bed guard’ type products available, which in my humble opinion would just have given my son further to fall if I wasn’t there the second he woke up from a sleep.  

I considered and tried floor sleeping without success. My ‘action man’ baby thought it was permanent play time and once got stuck behind the door and cold air draws up more severely through floors.  Hygiene is not always the greatest at floor level, so a mattress on the floor was not a suitable option for me.  Animals, especially cats are known to sometimes sit on and smother a sleeping baby. 

I needed to consider the idea of a safety device and I loathed the idea of a restraint (just as many people initially loathed the ideal of car seat restraints).

At the same time several of my friends and relatives were also struggling with similar issues.  So we all started to try and find solutions.  I kept my design extremely simple, which has become its uniqueness. It caters for both young infants and older toddlers. Specifically by keeping a young baby in the high SIDS (cot death) risk period positioned comfortably and safer whilst an older infant may be taught to turn right around inside the wrap, allowing desired sleep positions.

I remember it took weeks trying to fold different fabrics, beach towels and sheets to find the kindest, most comfortable and flexible yet safer ‘wrap’.  I finally thought of the two separate pieces – one around the entire mattress, and one around the child.  I had a ‘eureka’ moment in the middle of the night and leapt out of bed to make prototype number seven.  The previous models were either too restrictive or absolutely useless and they became rags.  I was excited and yet at the same time stunned with utter disbelief at the simplicity, practicality and flexibility of it! And Cameron loved it! His body relaxed and he went back to sleeping like a baby and I experienced enormous peace of mind! It worked!

I can honestly say that at that time, the then un-named Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap was, the most helpful parenting ‘aid’ to me, next to breastfeeding, and learning positive parenting techniques.  It was also an obvious source of comfort and security to my baby as he started to sleep more restfully and longer.   It literally changed our lives overnight, and we were all much better off for the extra peace of mind and restful sleep it brought. 


Love Miriam


The Safe T Sleep Family

Why on earth did I invent the Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap?

As a young, seventeen year old nurse, single, (with no children), I can remember thinking how incredibly unbelievable and unacceptable it was that parents could allow their children to climb or fall out of cots and beds!  And of course, idealistically thinking that such things wouldn’t happen to my children in the future!  There was even an element of disbelief that such accidents could be due to cot and bed falls.

The very first time I worked on the children’s ward at the age of eighteen to nineteen years old I nursed a ten and half month old boy. I was saddened to read on his report card that he had fallen from his cot and suffered severe, permanent brain damage .

Years later, when our first child was born, I, like thousands of parents of all cultures and ages, had decided that I was going to be the most wonderful mother in the world!

At seven and a half months our baby had started pulling himself up on furniture and was walking at ten months.  As far as he was concerned, finding his feet, standing, trying to climb and walking, all replaced sleep.  I used to spend up to three-quarters of an hour lovingly trying to settle him.  I have since learnt that during the learning to stand - pulling-up stage, many babies go through a stage of six to eight weeks when, once standing up, the brain does not appear to tell them how to sit or lie down again.   During this period many, previously great little sleepers, begin to develop overtiredness, poor sleep habits, increased risk of injuries and start to drive their parents, babysitters and caregivers mad. Often the child also becomes overtired and sleep deprived with all the associated behavioural problems.

My eldest son would be extremely tired and showing obvious signs of needing sleep, but he had this primeval instinct to immediately get up on two legs as soon as the lullabies and back massaging stopped.  I would then spend up to another half an hour cuddling and distracting him, give him a drink, etc.  Then after a little while, with now an obviously overtired child, I would try again and the whole cycle would start all over again!

As if behaving like a jack-in-the-box wasn’t enough, our naturally adventurous seven and a half month old boy decided that it was also time to develop and train for his future sports career – mountain climbing and abseiling!  I had to do something as my nursing background had shown me the real dangers of cot falls.  See what I did next week....


Love from Miriam of the Safe T Sleep Family.

Up til what age can you use a Safe T Sleep sleepwrap?

We often get asked which age the Sleepwraps are suitable for and we have designed it to fit children from birth up until 3 or 4.  While most stop using the Sleepwrap once their child has transitioned to a bed it can be a very good product to have on hand when you are traveling or staying with relatives who may have different bedding arrangements to what you would use at home.


The Travel Size can fit a right up to a king size bed so this means that your children can be kept safe from rolling off beds and bunks or becoming entangled in sheets (like our picture here) and bedclothes that may differ from what you normally use.  It is also very easy to just pop into a bag and if you already use one, as part of your bedtime routine, it can help ensure continuity and better settling in unfamiliar environments.


After 18 years there are still too many deaths and injuries around sleeping and often these accidents occur outside the family home.  Miriam invented the Sleepwrap when her son started trying to climb out of his cot and having previously nursed a boy who got a brain injury from falling out of his cot she wanted a solution that kept her son safe and gave her peace of mind.  Over the next few weeks we will be going back to the heart of why Safe T Sleep was invented and what keeps Miriam still championing the cause for safer sleeping 18 years on.




Maria from the Safe T Sleep Family