A Guide to Safe Sleep for Babies and Toddlers

What is SIDS? 

SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and is the leading cause of death for infants between 1 month and 12 months old. AOFC uses many rules and regulations to practice safe sleeping habits with our infants and toddlers so we wanted to provide our parents with some very important information. 

Here is some stats for you:

• According to a study done by Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. babies born to women who smoked during their pregnancy are 3 times more likely to die from SIDS. Second hand smoke around your infant also increases their chances of dying from SIDS. If you are looking for a reason to stop smoking here it is!
• About 1 in 5 cases of SIDS occurs when children are in someone elses care other than the parents. So make sure anyone who watches your little one is well informed on safe sleep tips.
• Babies who are use to sleeping on their backs and are randomly placed on their bellies to sleep are 18 times more likely to die from SIDS.

Now lets talk about some ways to protect your babies and reduce the risk of SIDS. 

The safest place for your baby to sleep is in your room where you sleep, but not with you or in your bed. You can place the baby's crib or bassinet with in arms reach of your bed for added security and ease. 

When your baby is asleep always place the child on their back. 

Do not allow your baby to get too hot. Always dress your baby lightly for sleeping and set the room temperature to a comfortable temperature for a lightly dressed adult.

Pacifiers actually help reduce the chances of SIDS. Just make sure it is free of cords and clips that could cause strangulation. 

Pacifiers with items attached are not recommended.

The baby's bed should be free of all toys and other soft items including bedding materials. Loose bedding can impair the baby's ability to breathe. 

A better alternative to loose blankets are sleeps sacks like pictured below.

Sleep Sack and its benefits!

Once a child has practiced tummy time and has built those strong neck and shoulder muscles and can successfully rollover from their back to tummy and tummy to back, you can allow them to sleep on their tummy. At AOFC our babies always start on their back no matter the age. If they roll over to their stomach, we will turn them back to their back. Once they roll over twice, we will leave them in that tummy sleeping position. 

All of this information was provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

If you would like more information about SIDS, check out any of the links below.

Healthy Child Care America

First Candle/SIDS Alliance

Healthy Kids

For more information about our program, please click here.