Safe Sleep
Keeping your baby safe is at the forefront of every parent’s mind, but unfortunately in this day and age, there are so many items for sale that are not safe. Some may be marketed in a way that makes you think it is safe, or intended for sleep, but come with small print warnings “to be used only while under supervision” or a “safer” statement.
The safest place for your newborn baby to sleep is in their own clear, flat, firm sleep space, on their back.
Your baby should always be placed to sleep on their back, not positioned on their side or tummy.
Babies sleeping on their sides have double the SUDI risk. If they turn from their side onto their front, the SUDI risks are six times higher.
SIDS rates in the US dropped by 50% after the “Back to Sleep” campaign started in 1994.
Once your baby is strong enough to roll themselves onto their side or tummy, it is safe for them to sleep in this position if they put themselves there, and they are not swaddled.
Co-Sleeping is recommended in the form of room sharing, but not bed-sharing.
A review of 188 infant deaths in Auckland, NZ found that 64% of SUDI cases were bedsharing http://sudinationalcoordination.co.nz/sites/default/files/2017-09/The%20recent%20fall%20in%20postperinatal%20mortality%20in%20New%20Zealand%20and%20the%20Safe%20Sleep%20AUG%202016.pdf
Room sharing for the first 6 -12 months had been shown to reduce the risk of SUDI https://rednose.org.au/article/room-sharing-with-baby
Your baby’s bassinet/crib/cot should be clear of anything except your baby.
Blankets - newborn babies who are swaddled and in a bassinet could use a blanket, as long as their feet are down the end of the bassinet and the blanket is tucked in at the bottom and sides so there is no risk of it untucking and covering their face. Older babies in a cot should use a sleeping bag instead of blankets to keep warm to minimise the risk.
Toys - babies who are unswaddled and old enough to consciously move objects can have a small (handkerchief sized) lovey/cuddly in the cot with them, but all other toys should be removed.
Bumper pads - these pose both a suffocation and strangulation risk. All cot bumpers should be removed, even air mesh ones.
Baby nests/pods - the standards that some of these meet, relate only to the mattress or the fabric used as a covering. None of these baby nests/pods actually meet the safety standard required for a bassinet or crib/cot and should never be used for unsupervised sleep. Rebreathing of carbon dioxide is the main risk with these sleep products. A Pepi Pod is a safer alternative http://www.changeforourchildren.nz/pepi_pod_programme
The bassinet/crib/cot needs to be a flat sleep space. This is due to positional asphyxiation that can occur when a baby’s head is tilted forward, blocking their airway.
Inclined cots/bassinets, hammocks, ‘sleepers’, bouncers, car seats/capsules etc all pose a risk for positional asphyxiation.
If baby falls asleep in the car, it’s OK, but they should be removed from the car seat/capsule once the car is no longer moving, or monitored very closely while still asleep, until they wake up.
Your baby’s bassinet/crib/cot mattress needs to be firmer than it would be for adults due to the following reasons:
To ensure your baby is not sinking into it, making an indent which creates a ‘side’. This then becomes a similar risk to a baby pod / nest / cocoon, in that the carbon dioxide your baby is breathing out is absorbed into the surrounding fibres instead of dissipating, and they are then rebreathing the carbon dioxide. When oxygen saturation becomes too low from higher carbon dioxide inhalation, this can become fatal.
Firm mattresses are needed to support the 300 bones (compared to the 206 we have as adults!) that babies are born with. Their bones are very soft and many of the bones are still not connected together. With more bones and rapid development of their bones and spines, babies need far firmer mattresses than adults.
