Planning a Safe Place to Sleep for Baby

Throughout the first year of life, sleeping babies have died accidentally from: suffocation, smothering, wedging, bring trapped under someone else or in bedding, and from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Babies sleep in many places. This is often based on cultural, traditional, or personal reasons. Regardless of where babies sleep, all babies need a safe sleep environment.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services in cooperation with SIDS Resources, INC., members of La Leche League International, certified breastfeeding educators, and neonatologists developed a brochure to educate parents and caregivers on providing a safe sleep environment for their baby. The brochure titled “Safe Sleep for Your Baby” can be viewed here or is available on the Department website at http://www.dhss.mo.gov/warehouse/e-l-gnh.html, brochure #674.

Despite major decreases in the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) over the past decade, SIDS is still responsible for more infant deaths beyond the newborn period in the United States than any other cause of death during infancy. In an updated policy statement on “The Changing Concept of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Diagnostic Coding Shifts, Controversie s Regarding the Sleeping Environment, and New Variables to Consider in Reducing Risk,” the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) addresses several issues that have become relevant since they last published a statement in 2000. The policy, which was released on October 10, 2005, can be viewed on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) at http://www.aap.org.