Risk Reduction

• BACK TO SLEEP:
Always place healthy babies on their backs for rest, sleep or when left alone. Placing babies on their backs to sleep for nighttime and naptime, is the single most important step that parents and other caregivers can take to reduce the risk of SIDS. Babies placed on their stomach to sleep, who normally sleep on their backs, are at a significantly greater risk for SIDS. Back to sleep must be used every time with no exceptions.

• FIRM SLEEP SURFACE:
Place your baby in a safety approved crib with a firm mattress covered by a fitted sheet. Never place your baby to sleep on pillows, quilts, sheepskins, or other soft surfaces. Studies have found that sleeping on soft surfaces, such as couches and soft mattresses, is a significant SIDS risk factor.

• SAFE SLEEP ENVIRONMENT:
Keep pillows, blankets, quilts, sheepskins, stuffed toys, crib bumpers and other soft objects out of your baby's sleep area.

• NO SMOKING:
Do not allow smoking around your baby. Don't smoke before or after the birth of your baby. Avoiding an infant's exposure to second-hand smoke is advisable for numerous other health reasons in addition to the increased risk of SIDS.

• CLEAN, DRY PACIFIER:
Consider offering a clean, dry pacifier at naptime and bed time. Do not force an infant to use a pacifier. Do not reinsert pacifier once it fall out. For breastfed babies, the pacifier should be delayed one month to ensure breastfeeding is firmly established.

• DO NOT OVERHEAT:
The infant should be lightly clothed for sleep, and the bedroom temperature should be kept comfortable for a lightly clothed adult. Over bundling should be avoided, and the infant should not feel hot to the touch.

• AVOID COMMERCIAL DEVICES MARKETED TO REDUCE THE RISK OF SIDS:
Although various devices have been developed to maintain sleep position or reduce the risk of re-breathing, none have been tested sufficiently to show efficacy or safety.

• DO NOT USE HOME MONITORS AS A STARTEGY TO REDUCE THE RISK OF SIDS:
Electronic respiratory and cardiac monitors are available to detect cardio respiratory arrest and may be of value for home monitoring of selected infants who are deemed to have extreme cardio respiratory instability. However, there is no evidence that use of such home monitors decreases the incidence of SIDS. Furthermore, there is no evidence that infants at increased risk of SIDS can be identified by in-hospital respiratory or cardiac monitoring.

• PROVIDE TUMMY TIME:
"tummy time."" when your baby is awake and someone is watching. Change the direction that your baby lies in the crib from one week to the next. Avoid too much time in car seats, carriers, and bouncers. Tummy time also enhances motor development, head control and upper body strength.

• GOOD HEALTH CARE:
Good care starts before the pregnancy and continues throughout the pregnancy. Preconception care, prenatal care and postnatal care are important. A healthy mother is more likely to have a healthy baby. Mothers should not smoke, use drugs, or drink alcohol while pregnant.