Children's Health

Remember, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is rare. Don't let your fear of SIDS keep you from enjoying your baby.

Studies have found that some risk factors are associated with SIDS, although the relationships are not entirely clear. You can take the following precautions that may help reduce your baby's risk of SIDS:¹

• Do not smoke, and take care of yourself when you are pregnant. During pregnancy, you can lower your baby's risk for SIDS by getting prenatal health care and taking general precautions. Also, do not allow anyone to smoke around your baby after he or she is born. Secondhand smoke also increases your baby's risk of SIDS.
• Always place your baby down to sleep on his or her back. This is the safest sleep position for a baby. SIDS occurs less in the countries that have urged parents to place babies younger than 1 year old on their backs to sleep. It is important to follow these guidelines every time your baby sleeps. Children who are unaccustomed to sleeping on their stomachs and are then placed on their stomachs for sleep may be at an even higher risk for SIDS.² Unless your doctor advises otherwise, do not place your baby to sleep on his or her side or stomach.
• For the first 6 months, place your baby to sleep in a crib in the same room you sleep in. (You can use a cradle or bassinet.) The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you do not sleep with your baby in the same bed. If you do sleep together, take precautions to make bed sharing safer. Don't ever share a bed with your baby if you smoke, have had alcohol, used medicine that makes you sleep very soundly (sedatives), or used illegal drugs. Never sleep with a baby on a couch or armchair.
• Use firm bedding materials, including a firm mattress. Make sure the baby sleeps directly on a firm mattress with a fitted sheet.
  • Choose a crib, cradle, or bassinet that meets all the safety standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. (Baby beds that attach to the side of the parents' bed have not yet been tested enough to have set safety standards.)
  • Don't use sleep positioners. And don't put anything else in the crib with your baby. A baby may pull items like blankets, comforters, stuffed toys, or pillows over his or her head and increase the chance for SIDS.
  • If a sheet or blanket is needed for warmth, tuck it into the bottom of the crib. Place your baby so his or her feet touch the end of the crib where the sheet is tucked in. Make sure the sheet or blanket does not reach higher than the baby's chest.
  • Bumper pads should be thin, firm, and securely tied to the crib if they are used at all. They usually are not needed.
• Avoid overheating your baby or the room where the baby sleeps. Keep the room where your baby sleeps warm enough [around 65°F (18.3°C)] so that he or she can sleep with light clothing without needing covers. Usually, the temperature is about right if an adult can wear a long-sleeved T-shirt and pants without feeling cold. But make sure your baby does not get too warm. Putting extra blankets or clothes on your baby in winter can increase the chance that he or she gets too warm. Your baby is likely too warm if he or she sweats or tosses and turns a lot.
• Give your baby a pacifier at nap time and bedtime. ³ This may help prevent SIDS for reasons that experts do not yet fully understand.
  • If you breast-feed, wait until your baby is about 1 month old before you offer a pacifier. Pacifiers sometimes confuse a newborn baby and can make breast-feeding more difficult.
  • Don't worry about putting the pacifier back into your baby's mouth after he or she has fallen asleep.
  • Don't force your baby to use a pacifier if he or she does not want it.
• Talk with your child care providers and babysitters about these precautions. Explain in detail on the first day of child care (or before) what you expect the staff to do. Do not assume that your child care providers know what things might lower the chance of SIDS. About 20% of SIDS deaths occur in child care settings.⁴