As parents, you want to make your little baby feel as comfortable as possible. Yet on top of comfort, you need to ascertain that each product you use for your newborn provides safety.
Vibrating bassinets are such a controversial product regarding safety since electronic devices have been accused of causing many incidents.
So, are vibrating bassinets safe for newborns? Can your baby sleep in them? We’ve conducted comprehensive research on this debated device and answer all your questions here, from whether it’s safe for infants to the effects of vibration on them.
Are Vibrating Bassinets Safe for Newborns?
Yes. Bassinets with the vibrating feature are safe for newborns to sleep in, provided the model is robust and meets the CPSC standards and AAP recommendations.
These systems help babies relax, especially newborns. They grow up and get used to living in their mother’s wombs for more than nine months. The fluster of the liquid in the uterus and the sense of vibrating are naturally soothing and familiar for infants. Hence, they search for peace in the same situations or feelings. Without vibration, babies often can’t sleep and feel anxious.
Notably, preemies may struggle to get used to the still conditions since they must step into an unfamiliar world before they’re ready. The rhythmic and repetitive motion can soothe them and help them rest and fall asleep more easily. In addition, vibration can also help successfully treat respiratory and heart rate problems in preterm infants (discussed later).
To guarantee the ultimate comfort for your baby, you should buy a gentle, comfortable bassinet that offers a soothing and mild vibrator, like the HALO BassiNest Premiere and Graco Sense2Snooze. These bassinets have multiple levels of vibrations and soothing sounds that will help your baby get to sleep easier.
Besides, vibrating bassinets typically use have a mattress and a robust plastic frame over the metal plate. Thus, your baby will not risk being in contact with electromagnetic radiation. However, you should never keep your baby in vibrating mode for hours.
While vibration helps lull babies to fall asleep quickly, too much of it might pose disorders related to sleep. Consequently, your baby may have trouble sleeping when stepping into the toddler stage.
Do Babies Like Vibration?
Vibrating and occasional rocking are familiar with babies for nine months when they’re in the mother’s womb. Suddenly, they enter a brand-new world that wants them to sleep while staying still peacefully.
Of course, this change doesn’t make the infant happy. Some newborns cannot sleep without soothing vibrations or rocking, which is normal since they constantly move in the mother’s womb.
Vibrating bassinets mimic the condition in the womb, which is precisely the soothing feel that babies want. If you’re in their shoes, you’ll see it makes sense.
Babies spent more than nine months engaging with their mothers’ activities, conversations, and heartbeat. They experience all of these as rhythmic vibrations. The gentle vibration is a rhythmic, soothing motion that offers your baby the good sense of those old days chilling out in the womb.
Effects Of Vibration On Infants
Preterm infants are vulnerable. They face problems related to breathing, such as apnea, oxygen desaturation, and bradycardia. Through clinical trials, scientists have shown that gentle vibrations such as light massages reduced apnea events in preterm infants by 50% while also improving other problems, including diminished oxygen levels and slower heart rates. So infants will improve their breathing if exposed to favorable conditions without interruption.
Colic in newborns is a common issue, with the most usually encountered symptom being that they cry continuously. According to research, vibration reduced colic severity in infants by 97%, especially when low-frequency vibration and sound were combined.
Babies’ will reduce if parents vibrate them constantly and smoothly. However, if you vibrate your little one too hard, they may fail to fall asleep, crying and squeezing their hands. Sometimes, they also cling to someone or something near them.
Hard rocking may damage a newborn’s brain. Thus, you must not shake your baby too hard, particularly if he’s 0-6 months.
Kids below two years old may get severely injured if spun, shaken, or bounced hard. The shaken syndrome can be because of the violent rocking of the bassinet, parents’ power, anger, or accidents during play.
Since the infant’s head is the heaviest part, accounting for a large count of the entire body’s weight, and his neck muscles can’t handle his head, this syndrome can occur without carefulness.
If you shake your little one’s head hard forth and back, it could induce the head to swell and bleed, affecting the hearing and optic nerve and resulting in nerve damage. The consequences may be more adverse if the baby’s head hits hard surfaces, like a bassinet wall, or bed frame.
FAQ
Is Too Much Vibration Bad for a Baby?
Yes. Depending on the degree of damage, too much vibration could lead to vision loss, decreased cognitive function, epilepsy, hearing loss, speech disorders, and mental retardation.
Children may not suffer from consequences until they grow older. Treatment for kids over 5-6 years old is very expensive, intensive, and long-term.
Can You Add Vibration to a Bassinet?
Indeed, doctors and experts do not recommend vibrating these days since newborns need comfort, quietness, and reassurance when sleeping.
However, you can add a mild vibration if the baby is lying in the bassinet to help her feel calm and comfortable before falling asleep.
Remember to be extra mindful of the vibration level you use or the bassinet’s stability to avoid hurting your baby.
Is It OK to Let a Baby Sleep in a Vibrating Chair?
Not to mention the chair’s vibrating level, the AAP recommends that infants not sleep on a surface inclined more than 10 degrees. This will harm him since babies don’t have strong necks to carry and support their heads.
Their necks tend to lean down more, placing pressure on the airways and the throat. This vulnerability significantly increases the chance they’ll die because of asphyxia (SIDS). The CPSC and Fisher-Price advised that parents shouldn’t use rockers, gliders, soothers, and swings for infant sleep because of the 13 recent deaths.
So simply put, letting a baby lie in a vibrating seat to help him sleep quickly is ok if the surface is not inclined too much, or there is nothing that could suffocate the baby, and under your supervision. Yet, moving him to another safer, still place to sleep afterward is advisable.
Conclusion
Vibration in general and vibrating bassinets are safe for newborns, especially preemies. They don’t only help babies sleep easier but also help prevent respiratory-related SIDS and help treat colic. So a vibrating bassinet is worth your investment.
Today, most vibrating bassinets are designed using the most advanced technology that meets safety standards. You can provide your baby with the soothing, comforting feel of vibration to help you and itself sleep better during the night. However, ascertain to keep all the warnings in mind and stick to safety precautions.
