The position of mattress is imperative for your child's safety. Most parents put mattress at highest position when baby first comes home because it is so much easier to change him in that position. As your baby becomes more active you will want to lower mattress accordingly. Once your baby is able to pull up to a standing position put mattress in lowest possible position and to be sure your baby is safe, measure distance between top of side bar and mattress. In lowest position distance of top of side bar should be no more than 26 inches above mattress. If your child's head is over side bar or they climb out of crib, it maybe time to move your child to a regular bed. Some cribs are convertible into beds tat will grow with your child.

The crib itself should be looked over for things that might put your baby at risk. Have you seen those cribs that have ornate designs carved into end boards? They are beautiful but they pose a danger to your child. Your child could get his head or arm and leg caught and sustain an injury. The simpler design of crib safer your child may be.

Since approximately 1974 federal safety guidelines for cribs state that slats should be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart. This is to prevent your baby from getting his head stuck between slats. This could cause injury to your baby but it would necessitate removal of some of slats and that alone would compromise your baby's safety.

For these reasons, until fairly recently, most state legislatures either outlawed homeschooling or tried to strangle it to death with regulations. In 1980, only Utah, Ohio, and Nevada officially recognized parents’ rights to homeschool their children. In most other states, legislators continually harassed or prosecuted home-schoolers under criminal truancy laws and educational neglect charges.

By 2004, however, pressure from parents, Christian home-schooling organizations, and recent court rulings pushed all fifty states to enact statutes that allow home-schooling, as long as certain requirements are met. These requirements vary for each state.

In spite of these statutes, many states and school authorities still harass home-schooling parents. That is because Supreme Court slapped parents in face when they gave local governments right to regulate home-schooling. As a result, many home-schooling parents are still harassed by local school officials.

If you are a homeschooling parent, you must know how to protect your legal rights. To do this, you should seriously consider joining Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). Founded in 1983, HSDLA provides its members with legal representation against local school officials who might harass you, demand to supervise your home-schooling, or demand to periodically test your home-schooled children. You can join at their web site, http://www.hslda.org.

The Rutherford Institute is another well-known organization dedicated to protecting parents’ rights and providing legal help to home-schooling parents. Their website is http://www.rutherford.org.