Safe Sleep

What is Safe Sleep?

The American Academy of Pediatrics released updated safe sleep guidelines in 2022 which are summarized below:

Place infant on their back for every sleep, including naps.
Use a firm, flat, noninclined sleep surface.
Infants should share a room with caregivers, but not a bed, for at least the first six months.
Keep soft objects, such as pillows, toys, quilts, mattress toppers, and loose bedding such as nonfitted sheets or blankets away from the sleep area.
Offering a pacifier at naptime and bedtime is recommended.
Avoid smoke and nicotine exposure during pregnancy and after birth.
Avoid alcohol, marijuana, opioids, and illicit drug use during pregnancy and after birth.
Avoid overheating and covering the head of the baby.
Do not use home monitors as a strategy to reduce risk of unsafe sleep.
Parents are encouraged to place the baby in “tummy time” while awake and supervised for short periods of time beginning soon after leaving the hospital.

Why is Safe Sleep Important?

Babies spend the majority of their early lives sleeping. In the early months, most infants do not have the instinct to breathe through their mouths when their nose is blocked. Suffocation can occur when a baby’s airway is blocked by pillows, bedding, or other items in a crib. When a baby is placed in an unsafe sleep location, they can get trapped or tangled in objects leading to strangulation.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID) are terms used to describe the death of an infant under one-year-old that does not have a known cause. Even with declines in the 1990s, it is still the leading cause of death for babies between one month and one-year-old.

This graph, from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows the rates of SUID in the United States between 1990 and 2022. Starting in 2020, the SUID has been increasing.

In Virginia 70% of all undetermined child deaths were certified SUID in 2023. (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Annual Report, 2023)

“Safe sleep is hard. Your baby is worth it.” – Charlie’s Kids

Parent Stories

Video from Indiana Department of Health, Indiana Safe Sleep Program

Sarah shares the story of the loss of her daughter Emily due to unsafe sleep practices in the childcare setting.

“She had been laid down on an adult mattress for a nap at her in-home babysitter’s house. The sitter told me ‘I’ve done this with every single child I’ve watched and with all three of my children’…It takes one time and I just don’t feel like gambling with your child’s life is something you should make a habit of.”

Mia Stewart, Ronin’s mom, shares their family’s story of SIDS in hopes to save other families from a sleep related tragedy.

“I thought I learned enough and I got home and told myself that wasn’t going to be me…I never thought about it as suffocation until now…I thought SIDS was just a sickness like the flu…We didn’t think of it as you need to do this because if you don’t and something occurs then he could pass that way.”

Video from the Cook Children’s Health Care System

Video from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Shareece Lee & Patrick Simpson, parents of Lailah, share their story.

“They knew that I was a nurse. I understood what safe sleep was but I always felt like I’m a mother and I know if my baby’s in distress. I can hear them tossing and turning, I’ll wake up. So I never thought that would happen to me ever.”

Safe Sleep Tips for Caregivers

It is important for all caregivers to learn about safe sleep to reduce risk. This includes child care providers, babysitters, parents, grandparents, other family members – anyone who might care for your baby.