SIDS: "Back to Sleep" Campaign
The Back to Sleep campaign is suitably named for its recommendation to place healthy babies on their backs to sleep. Placing babies on their backs to sleep reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also known as "crib death." This campaign has been successful in promoting infant back sleeping to parents, family members, child care providers, health professionals, and all other caregivers of infants.
This campaign is sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the SIDS Alliance, and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs.
What's New with Back to Sleep
A Statement from the Director
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) embraces the October 2005 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Policy Statement on reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The NICHD is working to incorporate the new risk-reduction messages into all Back to Sleep campaign materials. We are committed to providing parents, infant care givers, and health care professionals with the most current information about SIDS.
It was thirteen years ago that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released its first policy statement on reducing the risk of SIDS. The statement recommended that all healthy infants be placed on their backs to sleep in order to reduce the risks of SIDS. Shortly thereafter, the NICHD joined with the AAP, the SIDS Alliance (now First Candle/ SIDS Alliance), the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs, and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of HRSA to launch the Back to Sleep campaign to help inform all parents and infant care givers about the importance of back sleeping. Since then, the percentage of infants placed on their backs to sleep has increased dramatically, and the rates of SIDS have declined by more than 50 percent.
The NICHD is moving forward with its vigorous research program to learn more about the causes of SIDS. We continue to look for ways to reduce SIDS risks and ultimately to prevent the occurrence of SIDS. We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the AAP and many other organizations to encourage parents, infant care givers, and health care professionals to adopt every behavior that will reduce the risks of SIDS.
Materials and Publications
Revised November 2005
The Back to Sleep campaign provides a variety of publications on the importance of placing babies on their backs to sleep to help reduce the risk of SIDS. Most are available both for order and viewing on line.
Press Materials
A Frequently Asked Question about Bed Sharing
