When your baby is old enough to move from a cot to his or her very first bed, it is important to ensure that all safety measures are in place. This means fitting safety-focused baby products such as bed rails and bed guards, which are essential for preventing very young children from falling out of bed at night and hurting themselves.

Bedguards also come in very handy when travelling, especially if you don’t have travel cots and you find yourself staying somewhere without suitable sleeping facilities for babies. Depending on what model you choose, bed guards can be fitted to most types and sizes of bed to give you peace of mind that your baby is safe even in an unfamiliar environment.

Installation

Many bed-rails and bed-guards are specially designed to be easy to fit, but you still may need to do a little assembly work. The following are a few tips to bear in mind when installing a rail or guard on your baby’s new bed:

• Always read the manufacturer’s instruction manual before starting, as well as checking that the bedrail will fit the mattress you are installing it on

• Get a professional in to install the bed rail if you aren’t confident doing it yourself. Faulty installation can be dangerous for your baby, the biggest risk being that your baby becomes trapped between the mattress and the rail because too much space has been left between them

• Make good use of locking mechanisms to ensure that the bed-rail is in place

• Choose bed rails that are more portable and that can be quickly and compactly collapsed