Safe Sleep Guidelines
- Back to sleep for every sleep.
- Use a firm, flat, non-inclined sleep surface to reduce the risk of suffocation or wedging/entrapment.
- Feeding of human milk is recommended because it is associated with a reduced risk of SIDS.
- Promote any human milk feeding of at least 2 months, and exclusively for at least 6 months-1 year or beyond if mutually desired by both infant and parent.
- It is recommended that infants sleep in the parents’ room, close to the parents’ bed, but on a separate surface designed for infants, ideally for at least the first 6 mo.
- Keep soft objects, such as pillows, pillow-like toys, quilts, comforters, mattress toppers, fur-like materials, and loose bedding, such as blankets and nonfitted sheets, away from the infant’s sleep area to reduce the risk of SIDS, suffocation, entrapment/wedging, and strangulation.
- Avoid weighted blankets
- Avoid ANY additional objects in the crib.
- Offering a pacifier at naptime and bedtime is recommended to reduce the risk of SIDS. Once breastfeeding is established
- 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 head covering in infants.
- Discontinue infant hat use once the infant is thermodynamically stable, typically achieved after the first hours of life.
- It is recommended that pregnant people obtain regular prenatal care.
- It is recommended that infants be immunized in accordance with guidelines from the AAP and CDC.
- Do not use home cardiorespiratory monitors as a strategy to reduce the risk of SIDS.
- Supervised, awake tummy time is recommended to facilitate development and to minimize the risk of positional plagiocephaly. Parents are encouraged to place the infant in tummy time while awake and supervised for short periods of time beginning soon after hospital discharge, increasing incrementally to at least 15 to 30 min total daily by age 7 wk.
- Avoid the use of commercial devices that are inconsistent with safe sleep recommendations.
- There is no evidence to recommend swaddling as a strategy to reduce the risk of SIDS.
- Proper swaddling technique should allow the hips to be flexed and abducted to reduce the risk of exacerbating developmental dysplasia of the hip.
- Discontinue swaddling once the infant shows signs of rolling.
