What Can Go in the Crib with a Newborn?
Only a tightly fitted sheet. AAP safe-sleep guidance calls for a firm, flat, bare sleep surface — no pillows, blankets, bumpers, positioners, or soft toys — for all infants under 12 months.
The one thing to know: AAP safe-sleep guidance is firm, flat, and bare: a mattress that doesn't indent, no more than about a 10-degree incline, and nothing in the sleep space but a tightly fitted sheet — no bumpers, blankets, pillows, or positioners, for every baby under 12 months.
What "firm, flat, and bare" means
- Firm: a mattress that meets federal safety standards; a 2022 CPSC crib-mattress rule added a mandatory firmness test so mattresses cannot be soft enough to pose a suffocation risk.
- Flat: no more than about a 10-degree incline.
- Bare: nothing in the sleep space but a tightly fitted sheet.
Source: AAP / HealthyChildren.org — A Parent's Guide to Safe Sleep.
The fit matters too
A bare crib still fails if the mattress doesn't fit: if more than two adult fingers slip between the mattress edge and the crib frame on any side, the mattress does not meet the safe-fit standard. See how much gap around a crib mattress is safe.
The only thing you actually add
A fitted crib sheet sized to your mattress is the one item AAP guidance puts in the sleep space. Check the fit rules in the crib safety standards first.
Always follow your product's manual and current CPSC/NHTSA guidance; this page summarizes published standards and is not a substitute for them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only a tightly fitted sheet. AAP safe-sleep guidance is a firm, flat, bare sleep surface -- no pillows, blankets, bumpers, positioners, or soft toys, for all infants under 12 months.
No. AAP guidance excludes bumpers from the sleep space entirely -- the sleep surface should hold nothing but a tightly fitted sheet.
AAP guidance calls for a firm, flat surface that meets federal safety standards, with no more than about a 10-degree incline; a 2022 CPSC crib-mattress rule also added a mandatory firmness test.
AAP guidance applies it to all infants under 12 months.