Abstract:
A pacifier mounting system for localizing a pacifier in an infant&#39;s bed comprising a mattress cover or fitted sheet in substantially fixed relationship to the mattress and an anchoring means extending in use from the mattress cover or fitted sheet at a predetermined location and to which a pacifier is securely attached, the anchoring means extending through an aperture provided in the mattress cover or fitted sheet.

Description:
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Infant pacifiers comprising some form of teat structure for mimicking the mother&#39;s breast have been used for centuries to calm infants and including newborn babies. They provide welcome relief to the mothers or other carers when the infant needs comforting. The modern pacifier was invented in or around the year 1900 and has a teat, a guard and a handle but is otherwise similar in form to dummies from the Victorian era and earlier, though natural materials such as ivory and natural rubber have been replaced by combinations of plastics and newer elastomers. Whatever their construction, the role of the pacifier is very valuable to parents and other carers of infants in giving some respite from relentless infant demands for attention. However, a common requirement for use of the dummy is that the parent/carer be immediately on hand to present it to the infant on demand, when the infant becomes stressed or otherwise needs calming, since the infant will rarely be able to locate their own dummy. 
         [0002]    As a response to the problem of needing to present the dummy to the infant on demand, a number of proposals have been made to tether the dummy to a crib or cot&#39;s railings, to the infant itself or to toys or mounted to other items so as to be located in a substantially recognizable location. In the case of tethering to a crib or cot&#39;s railings there is a safety risk to the infant. In a couple of instances others have sought to mount the dummy to soft furnishings of the bedding including in one case to a pillow or cushion, as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,093 (Cynthia Prince) or supported on a pad on the blanket as seen in UK patent application GB 2459184 (Samantha Sutherland). The latter proposals do, however, have their own safety issues, since the former straps the dummy to the exterior of the pillow presenting a band that the infant might get caught in and the latter has a pad mount projecting from the blanket et cetera, and they do not ensure that the dummy is in a substantially fixed location in the bed. 
         [0003]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a pacifier mounting system that inter alia mitigates or overcomes these problems of the known prior art. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a pacifier mounting system for localizing a pacifier in an infant&#39;s bed, the system comprising a mattress cover or fitted sheet in substantially fixed relationship to the mattress and an anchoring means extending in use from the mattress cover or fitted sheet at a predetermined location in use and to which a pacifier is securely attached in use, the anchoring means extending in use through an aperture provided in the mattress cover or fitted sheet. 
         [0005]    The anchoring means for the pacifier is particularly preferably a short flexible tether that anchors the pacifier but does not support it. This suitably has enough reach for comfortable use by an infant lying supine alongside the pacifier but not so long as to present any substantial entanglement risk. A preferred length of the tether is from 5, preferably 10, to 20 cm. 
         [0006]    The anchoring means has a length that extends through an aperture provided in the mattress cover and particularly preferably is anchored itself to the mattress of the bed in use by a mattress strap that passes around the mattress of the bed. Such a mattress strap may itself be the afore-mentioned mattress embracing means and could be used without a mattress cover but for the infant&#39;s comfort and greater safety it is particularly preferably used with the mattress cover underneath the mattress cover in use. 
         [0007]    Use of a mattress strap to anchor the anchoring means/tether rather than affixing the anchoring means/tether to the mattress directly is important to enhance affordability of the system, avoiding need to modify an infant&#39;s mattress while still enabling the system to use the mattress as the base element to which the pacifier is tied, rather than the cot railings or a movable blanket, pillow or toy or other movable item. 
         [0008]    The mattress strap preferably is provided with a fastening means, such as a buckle, for tightening and holding it in place embracing a mattress and suitably further has a VELCRO™ mating tab arrangement on the overlapping end regions of the strap. In use the mattress strap is suitably arranged so that the fastening means is underneath the mattress and preferably proximate one end of the mattress. 
         [0009]    Particularly preferably the system is provided as a kit of parts comprising at least one long mattress strap to strap around a mattress embracing the mattress, at least one short anchoring tether and a mattress cover, the mattress cover having at least one reinforced aperture therethrough through which the at least one short anchoring tether may extend in use to tether and present a pacifier thereon to an infant for use. 
         [0010]    We have found that the arrangement of the present invention is exceptionally effective in use and more reliable and can be safer than the previous proposals. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings that illustrate assembly of the system, in which: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an initial assembly stage in which a first dummy is fitted onto a short tether/anchoring strap; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a view of the dummy as secured on the short tether/anchoring strap; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a view of the short tether/anchoring strap remote end being inserted through a double-stitched or otherwise reinforced aperture through the mattress cover/fitted sheet; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a view of the short tether/anchoring strap remote end protruding on the underside of the mattress cover/fitted sheet and being fitted onto a long mattress strap; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a view of the short tether/anchoring strap as fitted on the long mattress strap; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a view of the assembled mattress cover/fitted sheet and mattress from the underside of the mattress showing the fastening means of the long mattress strap being coupled to a free end of the mattress strap to fasten the strap around the mattress; 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a view similar to  FIG. 6  but with the fastening means fully tightened and secured and with the VELCRO™ mating tab arrangement on the overlapping end regions of the strap in mating engagement; 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a view of the mattress cover/fitted sheet on the mattress from the top face showing the pacifier anchored/tethered in place to the mattress through the mattress cover/fitted sheet; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 9  is a more general view of the mattress cover/fitted sheet on the mattress, showing one pacifier at each end of the bed to give the infant choice of sleeping direction. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0021]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 9 , the system in the preferred embodiment comprises a kit of parts to be installed to an infant&#39;s bed, comprising a specially adapted fitted sheet or mattress cover  1 , one or two short anchoring tethers  2  and a long mattress strap  3  to reach around the length of an infant&#39;s mattress in a loop embracing the mattress. One or a pair of dummies  4  may be supplied with the kit or may be obtained separately for use with the kit. A pair of dummies  4  and tethers  2  is preferred to allow the infant choice of orientation in the bed. The dummies  4  are of generic type having a handle/ring  4   a,  guard  4   b  and teat  4   c.    
         [0022]    The short anchoring tethers  2  are suitably only 10 cm to 20 cm long and each a robust, tear-resistant flexible strap/band of fabric with a rubber ring  2   a  on one end and a fabric loop  2   b  on the other end. The design of the tether  2  enables a dummy  4  to be safely and securely attached to it simply by inserting the rubber ring  2   a  end of the tether  2  through the handle ring  4   a  of the dummy  4  and then feeding the tether  2  fabric loop  2   b  through the rubber ring  2   a  ( FIG. 1 ) and pulling all the way through to tighten ( FIG. 2 ). The fabric loop  2   b  may be folded to help feed it through the rubber ring  2   a.    
         [0023]    Next the fitted sheet (or mattress cover)  1  is spread open and the fabric loop  2   b  of the anchoring tether  2  is fed through a pre-formed aperture/eyehole  1   a  in the sheet  1  ( FIG. 3 ). The aperture/eyehole la is reinforced by double-stitching  1   b  to prevent tear. When inserting the fabric loop  2   b  of the anchoring tether  2 , the user needs to ensure that the dummy  4  ends up on the side of the sheet  1  that will be the upper side in use, and the fabric loop  4  ends up on what will be the under-side of the sheet  1 . The user then takes the mattress strap  3  and mounts an anchoring tether  2  to the mattress strap  3  as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . The mattress strap  3  is suitably formed of a textile fabric like the anchoring tether  2  but is suitably broader, thicker/tougher and is much longer, for example 2m long or more, to allow it to reach around the length of an infant&#39;s mattress M in a loop embracing the mattress M. The mattress strap  3  has a Velcro™ tab  3   a  on one end and corresponding tab near the other end and with a plastic buckle  5  also on the other end. The user feeds an end of the strap  3  through the fabric loop  2   a  of each dummy anchoring tether  2  that projects through the fitted sheet/mattress cover  1 . 
         [0024]    Next the user places the fitted sheet/mattress cover  1  with the dummies  4  facing down on the floor or on a clean sheet or towel, so that the dummies  4  are now located under the sheet  1  (and the mattress strap  3  is on top of the sheet  1 ). The user takes the mattress M from the cot and positions it on the sheet  1  and the mattress strap  3 , making sure the long mattress strap  3  is fully extended at the ends of the mattress M so as to be wrapped up around the ends of the mattress M in a loop embracing the mattress M. The mattress M is suitably kept centred, and the strap  3  is positioned such that the buckle  5  remains on the under-side and to one end of the mattress M. The user then feeds the remote end of the strap  3  through the buckle  5  ensuring the Velcro™ tab on that end faces upwards. That end is pulled through the buckle  5  and the strap  3  tightened (not too much) and the end folded over such that the two mating Velcro™ surfaces on the strap  3  fasten together. The fitted sheet/mattress cover  1  is then fitted on the mattress M ( FIG. 7 ) and the mattress M with the whole assembly is placed back in the cot with the dummies  4  facing up. The user may then lightly pull the dummy anchoring tethers  2  to ensure that they are fully extended through the apertures  1   a  in the fitted sheet/mattress cover  1  and that each fabric loop  2   b  is directly below the respective aperture  1   a.    
         [0025]    The embodiment described hereinabove is primarily intended for infants of 4 months old or above and as such meets all relevant British Standards requirements. The bands/straps used of the system are each configured so that in use there is only a short length exposed to the infant above the mattress/mattress cover and no risk of entanglement or other hazard. The mattress strap is concealed and only a short length of each tether is exposed above the mattress cover/fitted sheet to the infant.