Vanderburgh County Health Dept. Offering Free Pack ‘n’ Plays During October Trade-In Event

Being a parent is hands-down the hardest job in the world. While each phase of your child's life brings its own challenges (and rewards, of course), the most stress-inducing phase (in my opinion anyway) is infancy. From the moment you leave the hospital with your newborn, their survival is squarely on your shoulders. Not only that, when something isn't right, they can't tell you what the problem is. All they can do is cry and you have to figure out why. Are they hungry? Are they sleepy? Do they not feel well? Have they made a mess of their diaper? It could be any number of things.

And the anxiety doesn't end when they finally fall asleep. I don't know how many times I would wake up in the middle of the night and go check to see if our kids were still breathing because it was just "too quiet." You even have to be mindful of how you put them to bed as several products that are marketed as products to help keep your baby warm at night or prevent them from smashing their head against the crib can actually be hazardous to them. In an effort to remove those products from homes to give babies in the Tri-State the safest spaces to sleep, the Vanderburgh County Health Department is conducting a trade-in event giving you the opportunity to ditch those products in exchange for a new one that is proven to be safe.

Every Tuesday from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM and every Thursday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM the Health Department will accept the following bedtime products at their offices at 420 Mulberry Street in downtown Evansville. The following products will be accepted, all of which have been deemed unsafe for sleeping babies:

• Rock 'n' Play
• Crib Bumper Pads (mesh or regular)
• Dock-A-Tot
• Snuggle Nest
• Baby Wedges
• Weighted Sleep Sacks
• Baby Blankets
• Crib Tents
• Bedside Sleepers

In addition to these items, the Department will also accept other products that could be considered a hazard for a sleeping baby.

In exchange, the Health Department will provide a new Pack 'n' Play or Safe Sleep Sack that has been proven to provide a safe sleeping environment for your child.

For more information, call or text Jen Healy at 812-708-0501.

[Source: Deaconess Women's Hospital on Facebook]