Baby Box is all the rage and we had to interview them. Stylish, comfortable and the perfect gift, Baby Box is a must have for all parents!
1. Tell us about the Finnish tradition of a Baby Box.
For the last 75 years, the Finnish government has given every pregnant woman in the country a Baby Box, which is essentially a new baby starter kit and safe sleep space in one. It is full of all sorts of must-have items for the baby’s first year, and the box itself is lined with a fitted mattress so that babies can use to sleep safely. The Finnish Baby Boxes are praised for helping to decrease Finland’s infant mortality rate from 65 deaths for each 1,000 children born in 1938 to 3 deaths per 1,000 births in 2013.
2. What does the Baby Box provide new parents?
Our Baby Boxes provide new parents with a safe space for their baby to sleep. They also provide every parent with a free membership to Baby Box University, our online educational portal that offers hundreds of videos from experts speaking on topics ranging from conception through the first 18 months of the child’s life.
As far as the items within the box go, we have a variety of Baby Box models at different price points, but some of the items we commonly offer include onesies, hats, socks, washcloths, burp cloths, bibs, swaddles, loveys, teethers, healthcare kits, and shampoo.
3. For our readers who may not know, what is SIDS?
SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which describes the sudden, unexplained death of an otherwise healthy baby younger than 1 year of age that doesn’t have a known cause even after a complete investigation. SIDS is is the leading cause of death among babies between 1 month and 1 year of age in the US.
There are luckily many steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of SIDS, namely practicing safe sleep rules: babies should always sleep alone, on their back, and without stuffed animals, pillows, bumpers, loose blankets, or any other items in their sleep space. It is also important to keep babies away from cigarette smoke and to prevent them from overheating while sleeping (i.e., by dressing them lightly).
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sts/about/SIDS/Pages/fastfacts.aspx)
4. How can the Baby Box help?
Baby Boxes simplify the rules of safe sleep mentioned above. They make it easy, convenient, and affordable for parents to practice these rules. Each Baby Box is lined with a firm, fitted mattress that offers the perfect spot for baby to sleep safely. Babies sleep alone in the Baby Box, as opposed to co-sleeping, and because it’s cozier and smaller than a crib or playpen, parents are less likely to add unsafe items like pillows, quilts, or stuffed animals.
Since Baby Boxes don’t take up much space, they encourage room-sharing (where the baby sleeps in the same room, but not the same bed, as the parents) and breastfeeding, both of which have been proven to reduce the risk of SIDS.
In addition, because Baby Boxes are lightweight and portable, they can be taken while traveling, if baby is at daycare, or if baby is dropped off at grandma’s house, so baby doesn’t end up sleeping in an unsafe space. Baby Boxes are very easy for everyone to use because no assembly is required, whereas sometimes injuries occur due to improperly assembled cribs or playpens.
5. Tell us how you started the Baby Box in North America for families.
When my partner Jennifer Clary and I read about the tradition in Finland, we were instantly inspired to find a way to bring this tradition to the US. The impact that these Baby Boxes had in Finland has been huge, and the idea that such a simple solution could be so effective truly blew us away, so we got to work developing our own model, testing it, and getting all the certifications before we launched.
In addition to selling as a popular baby shower gift, our Baby Boxes are also currently purchased in bulk by hospitals, governments, and non-profits who distribute them to new moms, very much in line with the Finnish tradition.
6. How do you ensure up to date safety of all Baby Box products?
We are proud to be the only safe-certified provider of Baby Boxes outside of Finland. Our products meet or exceed all applicable safety regulations enacted by the US Product Safety Commission, Canada’s Minister of Health, and the European Commission. Our actual boxes have passed SGS inspection, meaning that all materials from the ink on the exterior of the boxes to the glue used in their production are non-toxic and environmentally safe, and our mattresses have been independently certified as non-toxic and safe by CertiPUR-US laboratories.
Finally, we attach safety labels developed in conjunction with SIDS Project Impact and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Baby Box lids so all users of our product clearly see these warnings immediately upon opening the Baby Box.
