Our crib and motion monitor called for a piece of plywood to lay at the very bottom of the crib. This has me wondering about the formaldehyde binders that the plywood uses. Once again, this is on the very bottom, and the mattress lays on top of the wood, but it still worries me.

Will this be safe? Thanks.

Unless the kid is eating it, you are just fine.

I have personally seen plywood stalk and kill a child. No lie.

I have seen our kiddo tear up some sturdy stuff. You may want to look at getting the plywood insured if you are thinking of putting it in the same room, but it should be safe.

Might sand it down?

seal it if you're worried.

Ummm, plywood is everywhere around your house. Most of your furniture probably has plywood components. The drawers that your baby's clothes sit in are likely made of plywood. The plywood is perfectly safe.
Me thinks you are going to be the ultra-worried parent. Try to relax a little.
The AngelCare monitor I suspect you are installing is a good one. I used it on both of my kids. It can be a bit of a pain to get set up right, but the sense of comfort/confidence it gave us was worth it.
Good Luck.

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Might sand it down, in the baby's room

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FIFY

Gig'em and Semper Fi,

DHA

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Me thinks you are going to be the ultra-worried parent. Try to relax a little.

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THIS....congrats but chill out

Thanks for all of the replies and reassurance.

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Ummm, plywood is everywhere around your house. Most of your furniture probably has plywood components. The drawers that your baby's clothes sit in are likely made of plywood. The plywood is perfectly safe.
Me thinks you are going to be the ultra-worried parent. Try to relax a little.
The AngelCare monitor I suspect you are installing is a good one. I used it on both of my kids. It can be a bit of a pain to get set up right, but the sense of comfort/confidence it gave us was worth it.
Good Luck.

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Yes, it's the Angel Care. Thanks for all of the information.

I just had a thread about how to get rid of the smell of plywood. I bought a piece 2 weeks ago to go under the mattress of my son's new Car bed (he will get it for christmas). The smell it was putting out was very strong. I asked for advice from several people.

I finally ended up taking 1 guys advice - I wrapped it in thick painters plastic and duct taped it closed. I then bought a mattress bag and zipped that over it, and then taped it shut. So, no more smell.

If you are worried about it if you have a strong smell - try that.

i have two kids and i never even knew about the plywood having to be in a crib.

Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2002

nm

[This message has been edited by RogueAg (edited 12/8/2010 7:34a).]

I worked in a plywood mill for 7 years and I laugh at the OP question.

aTm papi, I didn't research the type of monitor, but I would guess it's one of those that has a sensor mat that sits under the mattress and detects slight movements (baby's breathing). If it doesn't detect any movement, it triggers an alarm.



Just hearsay, but I've heard that usually once the alarm triggers, the infant has already stopped breathing and it's sometimes too late.

You might want to check your carpet. Carpet has a lot of formaldehyde in it. Also, some new studies are linking wireless devices to cancer and it effects on childeren are worse (this includes baby monitors, cell phones, wifi, wifi laptops, home phones, etc.)

Here is the link to the article on RF. Basically it says that RF can alter your genetic makeup at the celluar level (particular bad for children).

http://health.yahoo.net/rodale/WH/is-your-health-on-the-line

Engineered wood is the least of your worries with the new California restrictions (CARB). Most companies are already making the CARB 2 products. If you can't use those then you need to get rid of all the wood in your house (wood naturally has formaldehyde in it).

http://www.apawood.org/level_b.cfm?content=srv_env_form

Under the new restrictions a piece of PB has as much formaldehyde in it as a piece of oak wood (9 PPM).

The thing we always worried about the most was SIDS and making sure the crib was secure (nothing loose to cause issues).

[This message has been edited by EastTexasAg1994 (edited 12/9/2010 7:21a).]

[This message has been edited by EastTexasAg1994 (edited 12/9/2010 7:23a).]

Like others have said, formaldehyde is EVERYWHERE. Don't worry about it too much.

Unless it's made in China I wouldn't worry about it.

Seriously dude?

This your first kid, right? My wife and I are on our first and he's 4.5mos old and anything regarding plywood doesn't come anywhere close to registering on a list of concerns. Nor does potentially having formaldehyde in the carpet.

Relax.

It's 100% truth that babies can pick up on your emotions and levels of stress and reflect it back. I've had it happen to me and seen it happen. The more laid back you can be the more likely your kid will be laid back and easier to handle.

For example, earlier this fall my boy was getting fussy and I was trying to soothe him but I also had the A&M-Mizzou game on TV and was highly pissed off over it. Nothing I did could get me to relax or my boy, he just kept crying louder. Then the rib took over and took the boy from me and in seconds he calmed down and was happy- she hadn't watched a minute of the game.

One item that's really low-tech that I do recommend as a must have for the baby is a "Miracle Blanket." http://www.miracleblanket.com/index.htm

Make sure you get the real thing. It's freaking fantastic and is 100% effective and idiot-proof swaddling. We used one and our boy was sleeping through the night except when my wife woke him up to feed at less than a month old.

Plus, it prevents them from rolling around and getting into a bad spot. Once they're strong enough to get out of the blanket they're strong enough to roll over and hold their heads up so they'll wake up and move if they can't breathe well enough.

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"Miracle Blanket."

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They claim that it prevents colic. This is a lie. However, they are pretty handy as little guys like to feel secure.

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Yeah, the colic thing is a bit much but I can tell the thing worked like a charm on our boy. And (fingers-crossed) he's pretty close to being out of the stage where colic is supposed to be an issue without it making an appearance.

Our little guy was born at the very end of March. He liked being swaddled for about the first 6 weeks or so, then he managed to wiggle his way out. We resorted to footed pjs and he does just fine. Some babies just don't like to be swaddled.

My sis-in-law is a NICU nurse (God bless her, I've called her numerous times!) and she did insist that our little guy sleep with the fan on, even if it's on reverse. New studies have shown that moving air in the baby's room significantly decreases the risk of SIDS. Even the smallest of fans is enough to decrease the risk. Through the winter, we keep his ceiling fan on low, but it's reversed to help push warm air down.

Our little guy has started crawling so that opens up a whole new can of concerns for us now, none of which are plywood or carpet.

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Most of your furniture probably has plywood components.

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You should include MDF and OSB in your statement.

MDF and OSB are used in construction of buildings, cabinets, furniture, flooring, etc. and should pose little or no problem since there is a high level of awareness regarding eco-friendly and user-/health-impact matters.

I think as long as you are using interior rated, non-pressure treated wood, you should be okay.

As far as swaddling, there is a "fourth trimester". The video "Happiest Baby on the Block" talks about swaddling since babies have spent all of their limited conscious time aware of a dark confined warm space with only the hydraulic and bodily sounds of their mother's womb. Using their arms and legs, being exposed to air currents, light(s), sound(s), even having to nurse or take a bottle as well as other things are all completely foreign them; we think they would take to these things naturally...

Check with your child's pediatrician or with the maternity ward where your child was born - they may have it available to loan out to you.

Angel Care Monitors.

outdoors related how...?

Because:

I don't have space in my garage and have to work outside on the few woodworking projects I actually do

OB posters with kids or in the process of having them plan on raising them to be outdoors-men/-women

And most importantly trees=plywood, OSB, MDF, boards, etc. and trees grow outside

Fair enough. I would imagine your kid will be alright. I get real annoyed at the people that over sanitize things. Tends to lead to weak immune systems. I always played in the soil and ran around in the cow pens and was generally dirty. I very rarely got sick when I was young and still have a strong immune system. Being a little worried is fine but the fact of the matter is that there is billions of bacteria everywhere. Even if you kill 99.9% of bacteria there is still probably a few billion left.

"Trust me, I'm a scientist"

There is some really good information in this thread, and I appreciate all of the replies.

I am not a tense or stressful person, nor am I really worried about this baby overall. I used to build mud waterparks and spent a ton of time in the dirt, so I can relate to aturner. My son will be able to get dirty and will not be sheltered in any form.

The plywood in the crib was something unheard of and unnatural to me. After that, I did a little research and read some bad things on other websites. I thought I would come here and hear what the experts had to say.

[This message has been edited by StupidisMe (edited 12/10/2010 11:58a).]

Definitely a legitimate question to ask the OB. A lot of the "greeenies" out there can really build up a story on how certain products are destroying the world and killing people.