Infant Safe Sleep
Babies can spend up to 16 hours sleeping and wake frequently. So, it is important to make sure your baby’s sleeping environment is a safe one. Plus, healthy sleep is important for a child’s physical and mental development. Providing a healthy and safe sleeping environment is, therefore, the single most important thing you can do to ensure your child gets a good start in life.
Safe Sleep Tips:
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Follow the ABCs of Safe Sleep for every sleep, including naps.
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Avoid smoking around baby. Smoke in the air or on clothes is dangerous for baby.
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Adult beds, couches, chairs, and car seats are not safe for baby to sleep.
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If you are tired while holding baby, place baby back in the crib.
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Use a sleep sack or wearable blanket rather than a loose blanket.
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Make sure baby isn't overheated.
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Breastfeed, if you are able.
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Offer baby a pacifier (without a string attached).
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Boppy pillows should be used for feeding baby and supervised playtime.
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Make sure everyone that cares for baby follows these safe sleep tips.
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ALONE
The only things that should go in the crib with a baby are:
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A tight-fitted sheet that is manufactured for an infant's sleep surface.
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A pacifier with nothing attached.
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Instead of blankets, to keep baby warm consider using a wearable blanket or sleeper onesie.
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And of course, a baby!
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There should never be anything soft in baby's crib including any pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, comforters, boppies, or bumper pads inside the sleeping area or attached to the crib. These items increase the risk of suffocation when placed in an infant's sleep area.
Did you know?
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Bumper pads should never be used in an infant's crib. Before our current safety standards were in place, the bars of the crib could be as far apart as the manufacturer wanted. There were no regulations, so a baby could get their head stuck in the crib bars and injure his or herself.
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In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's standards now require crib slats to be no further apart than 2 3/8 inches. An easy test is to take a normal can of soda and try to fit it between the bars. If it fits, your crib does not meet the current safety standards.
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Bumper pads are unnecessary and have caused too many suffocation deaths.
BACK
Did you know?
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Before 1992 over 8,000 babies died of SIDS and other sleep-related deaths in the United States, every year.
That number has decreased by over half! In 1992, doctors and other community members began recommending to stop placing babies to sleep on their stomach and sides and start placing babies to sleep on their backs.
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Many parents and grandparents express concern that their baby will choke when sleep on his or her back. Babies have a reflex to keep their airway clear and avoid choking. They automatically cough up or swallow any fluid or spit up. Evidence has shown that babies are more likely to choke or aspirate when sleeping on their stomach.
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When an infant is lying on their stomach face-down or near-face-down, air may become trapped around the baby's nose or mouth. This causes the baby to breathe in more carbon dioxide than oxygen. If the baby does not wake up or respond appropriately, it can lead to death. This becomes even more dangerous when the infant is placed on a soft surface or is sleeping in a smoke-filled environment.
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CRIB
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You have probably noticed that your baby's sleep surface, whether it's a full-size crib, pack-n-play or bassinet, is firm and to most adults, doesn't seem comfortable. Padding shouldn't be added to the mattress in an attempt to make it more "comfortable". There is a very important reason for this! Doing so can be very dangerous.
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Why are soft surfaces dangerous? ​
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If an infant lays on soft bedding or on soft surfaces (such as an adult bed, a couch, or a padded crib), that surface can indent or conform to the shape of the baby's head. This increase the likelihood that the baby will breathe in his/her own exhaled breath (carbon dioxide). Soft surfaces also increase the risk of suffocation if the baby would become face down in the mattress, couch, or padding.
Did you know?
Sleeping with an infant on the couch is one of the most dangerous ways for babies to sleep? COuch sleeping places a baby at an extremely high risk of death. Babies in this situation are at an increased risk of suffocation because they may become wedged or trapped between couch cushions, or may be rolled on top of if sleeping with another person.
