Each year in New York State, more than 120 infants die of sleep-related infant deaths, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Unsafe sleep practices include infants sleeping on their tummies or sides or in places other than cribs/bassinets/play yards, such as adult beds, baby slings, car seats, couches or armchairs. Also unsafe is sleeping with pets, other children or adults, or with blankets or other bedding, crib bumpers, or stuffed toys.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation. Unsafe sleep and SIDS are the leading cause of death in infants between one month and one year of age, with most deaths occurring when a baby is between two and four months of age.
Infant death due to unsafe sleep practices is preventable. Dress your baby in a one-piece sleeper or wearable blanket. Do not use loose blankets and make sure your baby is not too warm.
Make Sure Everyone Caring for Your Baby Follows these Tips:
Alone
- Put baby on his/her back to sleep – even if baby was born early (premature).
- Your baby should not sleep with adults or other children.
- Share your room, not your bed. Room-sharing lets you keep a close watch over your baby while preventing accidents that might happen when baby is sleeping in an adult bed.
- Nothing should be in the crib except baby; no pillows, bumper pads, blankets or toys.
Back
- Put baby to sleep on his/her back, not on his or her tummy or side.
- Put your baby on their tummy every day when baby is awake. Watch and encourage your baby. "Tummy time" helps baby develop strong shoulder and neck muscles.
Crib
- If baby falls asleep on a bed, couch, armchair, or in a sling, swing or other carrier, put baby in a crib to finish sleeping.
- Use a safety-approved* crib/bassinet/play yard with a firm mattress and a fitted sheet.
- DO NOT USE A DROP-SIDE CRIB. Federal safety standards do not allow drop-side rail cribs to be made or sold.
- Before you buy or use any crib/bassinet/play yard check the CPSC recall list to make sure it has not been recalled.
Educational Materials
- Safe Sleep Brochure:English #0672, Spanish #0673, Haitian Creole #0674, Bengali #0709, Korean #0676, Russian #0677, Chinese #0678, Arabic #0708, French #0710, Urdu #0711, Yiddish #0712, Italian #0675 and Albanian #0707
- Safe Sleep For Baby Poster: English #0671, Spanish #0669
- Safe Sleep Crib Card #0682
- Follow the ABCs of Safe Sleep Coloring Sheet #0699
- To see additional educational materials or to order those listed above, please complete the order form with the publication number, title, language, and quantity being requested. Make sure to provide your complete mailing address.
Resources
FAQs
A safe sleep environment for baby is: Firm (returns to its original shape quickly if pressed on) Flat (like a table, not a hammock) Level (not at an angle or incline) and covered only with a fitted sheet.
What is the safest way for a baby to sleep? ›
Put your baby to sleep on his back every time until he's 1 year old. It's not safe for a baby to sleep on his side or tummy. If your baby can roll from his back to his side or tummy and back again, it's OK if he changes positions while sleeping.
Is safe sleep 7 actually safe? ›
If you and your baby meet the requirements in the Safe Sleep Seven checklist, you've already eliminated all the biggest SIDS risks. And if you prepare your bed, then your baby's overall nighttime risk becomes vanishingly small.
When can you stop safe sleep? ›
The majority (90%) of SIDS deaths occur before 6 months of age, and the number of SIDS deaths peaks between 1 month and 4 months of age. However, SIDS deaths can occur anytime during a baby's first year, so parents should still follow safe sleep recommendations to reduce the risk of SIDS until baby's first birthday.
When are babies no longer at risk for SIDS? ›
SIDS is less common after 8 months of age, but parents and caregivers should continue to follow safe sleep practices to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death until baby's first birthday. More than 90% of all SIDS deaths occur before 6 months of age.
How to stop worrying about SIDS? ›
Protecting Babies from SIDS:
Share your room – not your bed – with your baby. Your baby should not sleep in an adult bed, on a couch, or on a chair alone, with you, or with anyone else. Keep soft objects, such as pillows and loose bedding, out of your baby's sleep area.
What month is SIDS risk? ›
Babies at Risk
Baby's age Increased vulnerability to SIDS when they are 1 to 6 months old with the peak time during 2-3 months of age. SIDS may occur up to one year of age. Siblings of a baby who died of SIDS have a small risk of SIDS possibly linked to a genetic disorder.
What if baby rolls on stomach while sleeping? ›
Once your baby begins to roll onto their stomach but cannot yet roll back to their back, reposition them to their back. When your baby can roll in both directions, usually around the 4-month mark, there's no need to reposition them. Consider a baby video monitor if you're worried about your baby's position.
What not to do when putting baby to sleep? ›
But here are three things you shouldn't try:
- Keeping baby awake all day to sleep longer at night. This typically does not work, says Dr. ...
- Putting cereal in the bedtime bottle. ...
- Holding your baby as you fall asleep.
Cosleeping and SIDS
The American Academy of Pediatrics took their cue, and all pediatricians recommended that babies be put to sleep on their backs, separately from adults. The SIDS rates began to decline. At the same time, researchers observed that SIDS is lowest in cultures where cosleeping is most common.
Co-sleeping with a child over 1 year old has a little less risk than with one under 12 months. At a toddler's age of 1 to 2 years old, they can roll over and free themselves in case they are trapped in the bed. As a child gets older, it becomes less risky to co-sleep, but it's still best for them to sleep on their own.
Why does breastfeeding reduce SIDS? ›
Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the occurrence of SIDS by over 50 percent by improving the immune system, promoting brain growth, reducing reflux and a variety of other factors. While six months of breastfeeding is recommended, only two months of breastfeeding is required to significantly cut the risk of SIDS.
What is the oldest a baby has died from SIDS? ›
SIDS is the sudden and unexplained death of an infant between the ages of 1 month and 1 year old that doesn't have a known cause, even after a complete investigation.
When is the peak of SIDS? ›
Most research shows that the peak risk age for SIDS, 2-4 months, has to do with the baby's timeline of brain development. Between birth and 4 months, the brain is doing the most development around breathing control and wakefulness.
Can you stop SIDS while it's happening? ›
Even though the thought can be deeply unsettling, experts agree that there aren't any warning signs for SIDS. And since SIDS isn't diagnosed until after an infant has died and the death has been investigated, you can't catch SIDS while it's happening and stop it, for instance, by performing CPR.
