ABC's of Safe Sleep: Avoiding a Parent's Worst Nightmare

October is SiDS Awareness Month. So, It is a good time to talk about safe sleep.

But, what do I mean when I say safe sleep?

When we lay a baby down to sleep we think of a very beautiful vision of a peaceful sleeping baby.

We don’t expect that something terrible will happen.

But the #1 cause of death in infants less than 1 year of age occurs suddenly and unexpectedly, and often occurs related to their sleep.

I am talking about Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID)

Often these deaths don’t have an immediate or obvious cause. About 3700 infant deaths related to SUIDS occur in the US every year.

To Get my Free Guide on Safe Sleep with 13 Tips to Keep your Baby Safe During Sleep just look right below this article 

Most Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths are broken down into 3 types:

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) -

The sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant, not explained by any known causes. Most occur between birth and 4 mos of age but can occur up to age 1.

Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed

The sudden death of an infant less than 1 year of age that can happen because of:

Suffocation by soft bedding—for example, when a pillow or waterbed, or sofa cushion covers an infant’s nose and mouth.

Overlay—when another person rolls on top of or against the infant while sleeping.

Wedging or entrapment—when an infant is wedged between two objects such as a mattress and wall, bed frame, or furniture.

Strangulation—for example, when an infant’s head and neck becomes caught between crib railings, or cords from blinds.

Unknown Causes

Unexpected death of an infant but not enough investigation was done to make a determination about what exactly happened

Because of prevention and education strategies in the last decades, the rates of infant deaths due to SUID have greatly decreased. But too many babies still die, and many deaths are preventable.  

Because of this, the leading pediatric organizations, The American Academy of Pediatrics,  The National Institutes of Health and The Centers for Disease Control have made infant sleep safety a major campaign.

We know that if certain safety precautions are put into effect, you can lower the risk of your baby dying in his sleep. Not all infant deaths are preventable, sadly. But, by putting these practices into place, most babies will be protected.

So here is one part of that campaign recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics called the ABCs of Safe Sleep

The ABCs of Safe Sleep

ALONE

Babies should always sleep alone in their own sleep space such as a crib or bassinet.

They should share a room with an adult for at least the first 6 months, preferably a year.

But they should not share a bed with an adult.  

Room sharing, but not bed sharing, could decrease SUID by 50%.

Parents should never sleep on a sofa, couch or soft bedding with a baby.

If parents think they may fall asleep while feeding a baby on a sofa or couch, they should feed the baby on the bed and if they fall asleep, when they wake, they should immediately move the baby to the bed.

Sleeping with a baby, especially on a sofa or couch, poses a suffocation risk to a baby.

BACK

Babies should be placed on their backs to sleep for all sleep - naps and night sleep.

Babies should not sleep in car seats or use sleep positioners that claim to decrease SUID.

Since babies began sleeping on their backs, the rate of SUID has decreased by half.

CRIB

Baby needs to sleep on his back in a crib or bassinet that meets the Consumer Product Safety Commission standards.

The mattress should be firm and fit snugly.

It should be covered only with a tightly fitted sheet made specifically for the mattress.

The crib should be bare.

There should be no blankets, crib bumpers, loose blankets, toys, pillows, quilts or decorative items in the crib.

No netting over the crib or cords nearby.

If you borrow a crib, or buy a used crib,  make sure you check to make sure it has not been recalled and meets current safety standards.

Here are some safety standards for cribs.

There are many other guidelines to keep your baby safe during sleep. The ABCs are a very good, and safe starting point.

To Get my Free Guide on Safe Sleep with 13 Tips to Keep your Baby Safe During Sleep just look right below this article

You will hear people say you don’t need to follow these guidelines. Older people, parents on forums, lots of well meaning but ill advised people.

You will hear people say babies sleep better on their tummy. And they often do - but here’s the thing - many of them sleep so deeply that they do not wake up.

There are very well researched reasons that these recommendations were made.

You will hear people say that they sleep with their babies and they are fine.

And then you hear the tragic tale of a baby who died next to his mom in bed.

The risk is just not worth it.

I could go into a lot of detail about why these recommendations were written but this article is just a starting point for you.  

If you want to further protect your baby, I have written a Free Safe Sleep Guide that includes 13 Tips to Keep Your Baby Safe During Sleep. You can download that below this article.

 With your Safe Sleep Guide and  your  ABC’s of Safe Sleep, you will have the foundation for making sure that your baby is sleeping safer tonight. 

Here’s to a Safe and Healthy Sleep for Your Family

LuAnn