Becoming a new mum is extremely exciting, but it can also be very overwhelming. To help alleviate some anxiety, here are 8 ways to put your baby to sleep safely.
We appreciate that putting your infant baby to bed between the ages of 0 and 3 months requires extra care and attention from an adult.
This is because of the need to avoid sudden infant death (SID), which can occur in babies.
My second daughter, while an infant, had reflux. Milk would come from her stomach through her nose.
This used to happen at any time, during the day as well as at night.
This made me extremely nervous and I dreaded leaving her on her own in a different room or with anyone else.
But I was reassured that she wouldn't choke and that back sleeping is the best way to reduce the risk of SIDS and is the recommended position until babies can roll over fully on their own - even for babies with reflux.
8 ways to put your baby to sleep safely
I took her to the doctor and learned some safe ways to put my baby to sleep that would help reduce my worry.
- Putting the baby to sleep on their back: Babies should be placed lying down on their back to sleep. (My daughter was exempt from this due to reflux, and I was advised to let her sleep on the side.) It is, however, recommended to practice tummy time when your baby is awake and supervised to avoid a flat head and also to strengthen their core, neck and arms.
- Always transfer them to a safe sleep environment: Car seats and other sitting devices, like swings or reclined bouncy seats, are not safe sleeping environments; neither are sleep positioners or nests which are mats with raised supports or pillows surrounding them, frequently resembling rafts. These products are unregulated and there are no safety standards that apply to them. The AAP does not recommend sleep positioners or nests, as their safety has not been well researched. In addition, there is evidence that a semi-inclined position can make a baby's reflux worse.
- Use a firm, uncluttered sleeping space: It is important to keep the baby’s crib firm, without loose sheets, soft material, pillows, or even stuffed animals. This is because if your baby rolls onto their stomach on a pillow, they will likely not be able to lift their head and could suffocate.
- Keep the baby in your room, but avoid bed sharing: It is advised to keep your infant baby in a bassinet in your room, at arm’s length from you so you can hear their turn or any movement. But you should not sleep with them in your bed.
- Breastfeed your child: It is said that breastfeeding generally lowers the risk of SIDS in children, as does the use of pacifiers. It is also important to wait for your baby to burp before putting them to sleep, as this greatly reduces infant reflux and colic.
- Avoid sleeping on a couch, sofa, or armchair with your infant: It's easy to fall asleep with your baby on a couch while nursing, feeding, or even comforting them. This poses a risk of them falling off, or even choking or suffocating.
- Avoid overdressing your child: It's easy to assume that your infant is cold and that you should pile on the layers before putting them to bed, but the opposite may be true. Avoid overdressing your infant; also, keep the room temperature comfortable and not too warm or too cool.
- Avoid breathing monitors: I was advised against the use of these monitors because they tend to replace parental monitoring of your baby and that there is no research that confirms they are 100% effective.
American Academy of Pediatrics
The above can be best remembered as "A B C," which can stand for putting your baby Alone on their Back in a Crib.
Back in July, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued updated safe sleep recommendations that said infants must sleep on their backs on flat, non-inclined surfaces and should not bed-share.
In its first update to safe infant sleep recommendations since 2016, the AAP also promoted breastfeeding and tummy time, and addressed questions about popular products such as home cardiorespiratory monitors - which are not recommended as a strategy to prevent sudden infant death syndrome.
The policy statement, “Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2022 Recommendations for Reducing Infant Deaths in the Sleep Environment,” was published in the July 2022 Pediatrics.
Simple is best
“We’ve made great strides in learning what keeps infants safe during sleep but much work still needs to be done,” said Rachel Moon, lead author of the statement and technical report, generated by the AAP Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and the AAP Committee on Fetus and Newborn.
“A baby’s death is tragic, heartbreaking and often preventable. If we’ve learned anything, it’s that simple is best: babies should always sleep in a crib or bassinet, on their back, without soft toys, pillows, blankets or other bedding,” said Dr Moon, professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.