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Preventing Accidental Injury. Contact: Cherie Sage, 785-296-1223, or |
October is SIDS Awareness Month
Safe Kids Kansas offers sleep safety tips
October is SIDS Awareness Month, and Safe Kids Kansas urges parents and caregivers to remember the phrase “back to sleep.” Babies need to sleep on their backs, face up, to minimize the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS is still not fully understood, but it is estimated that 900 cases each year involve soft bedding and suffocation in a crib or other sleeping environment. Soft bedding and mattresses have also been linked to more than 100 cases of fatal suffocation in playpens since 1988.
“Babies need to sleep face up, on their backs, until they’re old enough to turn themselves over,” says Cherie Sage, State Director for Safe Kids Kansas. “The phrase ‘back to sleep’ has saved hundreds of lives. Within 10 years after public health professionals started teaching new parents to lay a baby on his or her back to sleep, the death rate from SIDS was cut in half.”
Most infant suffocation (60 percent) happens in a crib or bed. Babies can suffocate when their faces become wedged against or buried in a mattress, pillow, infant cushion or other soft bedding or when someone in the same bed rolls over onto them.
“It’s tempting to hold your baby in bed with you, but think very carefully about the latest sleeping guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics,” says Sage. “It’s risky to share a bed or sofa with a baby, especially if you’re tired, you’ve been drinking alcohol or you’re taking medication.”
The AAP announced findings in 2005 concluding that the safest place for a baby to sleep is in the same room as a parent, but in a separate crib near the parent’s bed. Sleeping with a baby on a sofa or chair is especially discouraged.
The AAP also found a higher risk of SIDS in babies with a high body temperature and recommends that the air temperature in the nursery should be “comfortable for a lightly clothed adult” and the baby should not be bundled in too much clothing. Also, there is some evidence of a higher risk of SIDS in babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke.
Based on the AAP’s report, Safe Kids Kansas also recommends these precautions for babies who cannot yet turn themselves over (generally, babies less than six months old):
- The sleeping surface should be a firm crib mattress and should not have pillows, quilts or stuffed animals on it. For warmth, use infant sleepwear or crib-sized blankets tucked under the mattress so they do not reach above the baby’s chest; do not use adult-sized blankets.
- Offer a clean pacifier to the baby at bedtime, but do not put it back in if it falls out of the baby’s mouth. There is evidence that pacifiers help protect sleeping babies from SIDS, though pediatricians don’t know why.
- Crib bumpers are not necessary, but if used, they should be firm, thin and securely tied to the crib.
- Do not rely on any consumer products or medical devices to prevent SIDS. No such product has been shown to be effective, and some have not been shown to be safe.
- To prevent the baby’s head from developing a flat spot in back, allow plenty of “tummy time” for the baby while awake and constantly supervised. Don’t leave a baby in a carrier or bouncer all day.
Unaccustomed sleep position is also an issue. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states parents and child care providers need to be aware that infants who are normally placed to sleep on their backs, who are then placed to sleep on their stomachs to sleep, are as much as 18 times more likely to die from SIDS. Infants who are regularly placed to sleep on their stomachs have a five times greater risk of dying of SIDS than children who are placed to sleep on their backs. Talk to everyone who provides care to your infant, and make it a rule that they should always be placed on their back to sleep. This important conversation needs to take place before the very first day the child is in cared for by the relative, babysitter, or child care provider and should be reinforced by both the parent and other providers on a regular basis. You can find more information about safe sleep in child care at www.safekidskansas.org.
“It’s worth repeating: lay your baby back to sleep,” says Sage. “The single most powerful step you can take to reduce the risk of SIDS is to make sure babies under six months always sleep on their backs, facing up, on a firm surface without soft objects around.”
For more information about SIDS, airway obstruction and nursery safety visit www.usa.safekids.org.
Safe Kids Kansas, Inc. is a nonprofit Coalition of over 70 statewide organizations and businesses dedicated to preventing accidental injuries to Kansas children ages 0-14. Local coalitions and chapters are located in Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Clay, Coffey, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Elk, Ellis, Finney, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Labette, Leavenworth, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Mitchell, Montgomery, Osage, Pottawatomie, Rice, Riley, Saline, Smith, Shawnee, Wilson and Woodson Counties, as well as the cities of Chanute, Emporia, Leavenworth, Pittsburg, the Wichita Area (including Butler, Harvey, Sumner and Sedgwick counties) and the Metro Kansas City Area (Wyandotte county and several Missouri counties.) Safe Kids Kansas a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury. The lead agency for Safe Kids Kansas is the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Visit us at www.safekidskansas.org.