How to safely put your baby to sleep to reduce the risk of sudden infant death. For all babies 0-12 months.
Red Nose recommends six key steps to reduce the risk of sudden infant death for all babies 0–12 months.
1. Always place your baby on their back to sleep.
Placing baby on their back to sleep helps keep their airway clear and ensures their protective reflexes work. Back sleeping reduces the risk of suffocation, overheating and choking.
2. Keep your baby’s face and head uncovered.
Babies control their temperature through their face and head, so keeping the baby’s face and head uncovered during sleep helps reduce the risk of overheating. It also helps keep their airways clear, which reduces the risk of suffocation.
3. Keep your baby smoke-free before and after birth.
Smoking during pregnancy and around the baby once they are born increases the risk of sudden infant death – this includes second-hand smoke.
If you or your partner smoke, don’t smoke around the baby and never smoke where the baby sleeps.
For free help to quit smoking, call Quitline on 13 78 48.
4. Safe sleeping environment night and day.
The safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own safe space, with a safe mattress and safe bedding.
Baby should always be placed on their back to sleep, with their feet at the bottom of the bassinet or cot.
- Safe cot: Meets Australian standard AS/NZS 2172:2003.
- Safe mattress: Firm, flat, the right size for your safe cot, meets the voluntary Australian standard (AS/NZS 8811.1:2013).
- Safe bedding: Lightweight bedding, firmly tucked in and only
pulled up to the chest. - Safe sleeping bag: Well-fitted across the neck and chest, with the baby’s arms out, and no hood
5. Sleep baby in their own safe sleep space in the parent or caregiver’s room for the first 6 months
The safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own safe space, in the same room as their parents or adult caregivers, for the first 6 months.
6. Breastfeed the baby.
Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the risk of sudden infant death.
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