Safety Tips for Sleeping Babies

Safety Tips for Sleeping Babies

If your baby is under 12 months old, you can help prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), suffocation, and strangulation by following these three tips:

Baby in Crib
  1. Place your baby to sleep on his or her back.

  2. Remove all soft bedding from the crib.

  3. Put your baby to sleep in a safe crib.


Why follow these tips?

  1. Babies who sleep on their backs have a much lower risk of dying from SIDS and suffocation. African American babies die from SIDS at more than twice the rate of other babies.

  2. A baby can suffocate from soft bedding in a crib. Be sure to remove all pillows, quilts, comforters, and sheepskins from your crib.

  3. A safe crib is the best place for your baby to sleep. Make sure your crib has:

no missing or broken hardware and slats no more than 2 3/8" apart
no corner posts over 1/16" high
no cutout designs in the headboard or footboard
a firm, tight-fitting mattress
a safety certification seal (on new cribs)

For more information, contact:
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
1-800-638-2772 or www.cpsc.gov