The risk for sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, is highest in the first year of life. SIDS often happens during sleep, which is why knowing and practicing safe sleep is so important.
“I think as parents, we’re all desperate to get our children to sleep at night,” says Dr. Angela Mattke, a pediatrician with Mayo Clinic’s Children’s Center, who warns parents to be aware of products that are not safe for sleep.
“There’s lots of different products that are marketed towards families and parents to help guarantee to improve their sleep. But most of those products have been shown to not be safe for infants to be sleeping in specifically anything that has an incline,” says Dr. Mattke.
Other products, like loungers and weighted blankets, also are not safe for sleep.
Dr. Mattke says when it comes to baby’s sleeping space, keep it simple.
“Make sure the infant is sleeping on their back with no fluffy stuff around them. They should be the cutest thing in their bassinet or in their crib,” she says.
Sharing a bedroom with baby, especially for the first six months of life, can decrease the risk of sleep-related death by up to 50%. But the key is sharing a bedroom, not a bed.
