Did you spend hours planning the nursery and scrolling online for decor ideas when you were pregnant" Then there’s the adorable monthly milestone photos, with newborns snoozing peacefully in Moses baskets or pillow-y baby loungers. But not all of those cute pics you double-tap on Instagram or save to Pinterest are safe to replicate at home.
By sharing some of these trendy products and nursery set-ups, influencers are doing a huge disservice to new parents who get the impression that this is what ideal motherhood, or typical nurseries, should look like. How can it be unsafe if ?everyone? else does it this way, right"
Wrong, says Elizabeth Keys, a registered nurse and assistant professor at the School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Okanagan. ?Those idealized, perfectly styled nurseries might be nice to look at, but they?re not safe.” Keys adds that these pics can also “add a lot of pressure on parents to maintain that perfect image, when in reality that’s very hard to do.? Many of these inspirational nursery decor images are putting style before safety, says Alanna McGinn, a sleep consultant and founder of Good Night Sleep Site.
?We are forgoing safe sleep spaces and including obvious sleep hazards all for a pretty Instagram picture,? McGinn says. Even if it’s just for the picture and parents are removing pillows and blankets for overnight sleep, for example, or supervising their baby the entire time they’re napping,...