Your baby won’t have a blanket or duvet for quite some time. Since that makes sheets the star of their cribs, it’s fun to dress up their sleeping space with punchy patterns and soft materials that make your baby’s bed stylish, comfortable, and safe.
As always, follow safe sleeping practices as outlined by the American Association of Pediatrics and never place loose bedding, blankets, toys, stuffed animals, or crib bumpers in the baby’s sleeping space. A sleep sack or wearable blanket, fitted crib sheet, and a firm mattress is all that should be in the crib. And that’s why we say you should go ahead and splurge on your sheets.
WHAT TO CONSIDER
Beyond being gentle on your baby’s ultra sensitive skin, the best crib sheets need to hold up to frequent use and washings. Look for materials like cotton, bamboo, cotton muslin, and linen, which tend to be the gentlest on your baby’s skin while also maintaining tensile strength under the hazards of everyday life.
You’ll also want to make sure that crib sheets can be hang-dried or thrown in the dryer, and won’t get damaged by the sun. We know that the materials mentioned above are prone to wrinkling, but the lasting nature of these natural sheets more than makes up for a few divots, in our opinion.
HOW WE CHOSE
I’ve personally laundered several of these sheets on the list, including Guava Lotus, Brooklinen, Avocado, and Burt’s Bees, using Guava Lotus and Burt’s Bees with her own children. The other sheets on the list have been carefully chosen after reading tons of reviews — both good and bad — weighing first-hand user experience with cost, composition, safety, and smaller factors like shipping costs and ease of purchase. We also made sure to include sheets at a variety of price points, because we know that cost is a huge factor for families.
Whether you’re looking for a prim pattern or a bold solid, there’s a crib sheet on this list for you that’s soft, washes easily, and will hold up to years of use.
