When caring for your newborn, a few topics will be more crucial than sleep safety. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS is the unexplained and sudden death of an otherwise healthy baby under the age of one. In the United States, over 3,000 babies die annually from SIDS.
Despite medical advancements, the exact cause of SIDS remains a mystery. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has several recommendations on safe sleep practices which can significantly help lower the risk of SIDS. Unfortunately, many families and caregivers remain unaware of these guidelines. Therefore, SIDS awareness and education is critical.
By ensuring everyone involved in your baby’s care is well-versed in safe sleep practices, you can create a safer, healthier sleep environment for your little one. Given this, let’s explore practical ways to educate your family, friends, and caregivers about safe sleep to prevent SIDS.
How to educate caregivers and family members
According to Georgia State University, understanding and being able to share the ABCs (Alone, Back, Crib) of safe sleep and convey the seriousness of an unsafe sleep environment to your family and friends is paramount to your baby’s well-being.
As parents, you should explain to anyone who might be caring for your baby:
- The importance of Alone, Back, Crib.
- How to identify elements within the home that could pose a threat.
- Help them identify and let go of pre-existing safe sleep biases.
Some of the main factors to address and consider when having a safe sleep conversation with your baby’s caregivers are listed below.
Why your baby needs to sleep alone
One of the AAP’s safe sleep recommendations is no bed-sharing. In many parts of the world, among older generations, bed-sharing is seen as completely normal. If you have family members who share this belief, you should explain the safety concerns to ensure they do not co-sleep with your little one when babysitting. Explain that when bedsharing:
- Babies who fall asleep on their caregiver’s lap or chest can easily slip off unnoticed (if the caregiver is also asleep) and become entrapped between the headboard, footboard, couch, or caregiver.
- When bed-sharing, the baby could get tangled in the sheets/covers, or the caregiver could roll onto them, causing suffocation.
- The baby could roll off the bed, or sofa resulting in a fatal injury.
Why your baby needs to be placed on their back
The AAP also recommends that babies be placed on their backs to sleep. Before leaving your baby with sitters, family, or friends, they need to know why placing your baby on their back to sleep is important. You can share the following with them:
Babies can clear fluids such as spit up or reflux more easily when sleeping on their backs. Anatomically speaking, the windpipe lies above the esophagus, which connects to the stomach.
Therefore, if your baby regurgitates anything, it comes from the stomach and has to work against gravity to enter the windpipe if your baby is asleep on their back. If your baby is placed on their stomach, food or fluid could block their airway and cause choking.
A description of your baby’s sleep space (crib)
If caregivers are babysitting your baby at your home, the crib should already have a firm mattress and fitted sheet (both of these help prevent accidental suffocation or strangulation). However, you should remind caregivers not to place any additional items in the crib with your baby while you are away.
For example, items that could pose the risk of choking, suffocation, and strangulation could include:
- Toys
- Blankets
- Bumpers
- Pillows
Conclusion
Raising SIDS awareness among your baby’s village is more than just a precaution, it’s an investment into the well-being of your little one. By keeping everyone involved in the primary care of your baby informed on AAP recommendations, and expert-backed infant safe sleep practices, you will create a safer environment for your baby in and outside of your home.
It is important and necessary to have open conversations with your family to ensure they adapt to and adopt safe sleep practices consistently and confidently. By understanding the importance of these practices and why they matter, your family members, friends, and babysitters will be better equipped to protect your little one from the risks associated with SIDS.
