The Centers of Disease Control recently published that 72% of reported infant deaths related to Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID, previously known as SIDS) was due to unsafe bedding.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has the following recommendations for safe sleeping practices.
Commonly demonstrated by the Back to Sleep campaign, infants under the age of one year should be placed on their backs to sleep on a firm surface without soft bedding or other items, including blankets, pillows, bumper pads, and stuffed animals. Placing an infant on their side is not recommended. Once an infant can roll on their own from supine (back) to prone (to their front) and prone to supine, they can remain in the sleep position they assume during sleep.
A safe sleeping environment for an infant is a flat firm mattress covered by a fitted sheet. The mattress should maintain its shape and not conform to the shape of the baby’s head. A soft mattress can create an indentation that could increase the risk of rebreathing and suffocation if the baby should roll over into a prone position. A mattress typically used by an adult is too soft for safe sleep for an infant, particularly in the use of mattress toppers and memory foam material. Pillows, blankets, quilts, or other soft objects should not be used as a substitute for a mattress, even if they are covered by a flat sheet. The risk of death associated with bed sharing is further increased when the bed sharer is a smoker, is intoxicated (such as by alcohol), or is not the parent.
Sleeping in the same room, but not the same bed as the infant (also known as room sharing) for the first 6 months of life is recommended as it has been shown to decrease the risk for SUID.
Sleeping with an infant on a couch or an armchair is significantly dangerous as the infant may be rolled against or between cushions and the accompanying larger person, leading to suffocation.
There is no evidence that swaddling reduces the risk of SUID. There is increased risk of death if the swaddled infant is placed in or rolls into prone position. Furthermore, once the child begins attempting to roll over, swaddling should no longer be used
