Baby Box

Expecting and new parents who complete online parenting education in Alabama will be able to receive a free Baby Box, a durable cardboard box that can be used as a baby’s bed for the first months of life – a box bed that is credited with helping reduce infant mortality. 

The state of Alabama, The Baby Box Co., the Alabama Rural Development Office, the Alabama Department of Public Health and numerous network partners are teaming in this initiative.

The use of Baby Boxes has been credited with helping Finland achieve one of the world’s lowest infant mortality rates, according to the World Health Organization.             

The Baby Box also includes newborn essentials such as diapers, baby wipes, breast pads, nipple cream, a onesie, a waterproof tote bag, Vroom activity cards from the Bezos Family Foundation and more.

It takes only three easy steps for Alabama’s expecting and new parents to get their free Baby Box:

• Register for free online at babyboxuniversity.com as an Alabama resident. Be sure to include your correct contact information, including mailing address.
• Watch the 10-15 minute Alabama syllabus at babyboxuniversity.com. After taking a short quiz, you will receive a certificate of completion and be able to select local pick-up or direct delivery of your Baby Box.
• If you select direct delivery, your Baby Box will ship to the address you provided when you registered on Baby Box University. If you select local pick up, bring your Baby Box University certificate to the closest participating distribution to collect your Baby Box.

10 Things to Do When your Baby Outgrows your Baby Box

While your baby may only be able to sleep in his or her box up to six months, that doesn’t mean you need to ditch the box once your baby graduates to the crib. Here are the top 10 ideas for what you can do with your box after the baby moves out of it:

• Keepsake box: Use it to keep memorable items you’ll always want to remember the early days with your baby, such as a favorite blanket or toy. You can add to it as your little one grows up.
• Next-size-up clothing: use the box to put the next side up clothes that your little one may not quite fit into yet, but will soon. That way they’ll be organized and easy to access once a growth spurt comes along.
• Cleaning supplies: Keep your cleaning supplies, sprays and soaps out of reach for kiddos but placing them in the box and putting in a pantry or on a high shelf. This also makes it easy when you’re in cleaning mode to bring all your supplies in a quick and organized way.
• Road trip survival box: If you’re packing up the kids and hitting the road, put all the things they’ll want in the box and make it easy for them to access in the backseat so you can have a little sanity up front.
• Art box: as your baby gets bigger and begins to make art, this is a perfect box to collect those one-of-a-kind treasures to keep for a long time. 
• Important files: The box fits multiple file folders and as your child grows, you’ll accumulate materials along the way (birth certificate, hospital records, school files, etc.). This is a recognizable and large enough space to store all the important docs needed for your child. 
• Game night: Keep your board games, cards, dice and other game night essentials in the box so not pieces are lost and it’s easy to take down for a fun night of games.
• Toy box: Quick! Guests are coming over and you have a hundred mini-race cars all over your living room. Grab your box and use it for quick toy storage that can hide a mess in a matter of minutes.
• DIY galore: Crafting is a great activity as your child gets bigger and keeping all those DIY materials in one place will ensure you have a mess-free home! From paper to popsicle sticks to googly-eyes, keep them in your box and know when you take it out, fun lies ahead.
• Magazine storage: keep magazines and newsletters in the box to easily access when you have a little downtime (ha!) to catch up on reading. When the magazines start to overflow the boxes that’s when you throw out what’s in there and start over.