Safe sleep for babies

Feet-to-foot makes for safe sleep

Babies who die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) are often found with their heads covered by bedding, and now new research suggests that this covering usually precedes, and may contribute to, death.

This finding underlines the fact that parents need to take steps to ensure their baby’s head doesn’t become covered while he sleeps, says lead author Dr. Edwin A. Mitchell, from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, in the medical journal Pediatrics.

Researchers analyzed data from 393 SIDS cases in the New Zealand and 333 cases in a German SIDS study. Overall, 15.6% of infants in the New Zealand study and 28.1% in the German study had their heads covered when they were discovered, the report indicates. Infants whose heads were covered were often very sweaty, the researchers noted, which suggests that the covering occurred before death. Older infants were more likely than younger ones to have their head covered, which likely reflects their greater mobility.

Parents in the UK are routinely advised to sleep their babies in the ‘feet-to-foot’ position – that is, with their feet at the bottom of the crib to ensure they can’t wriggle down under the covers. Take the precaution of making up your baby’s crib so that the covers only come around a third of the way up the crib and place him at that end, with the bedding tucked under his arms and tucked in at the sides. Alternately, put your baby in a sleeping bag/sleepsack when you place him in his crib. Avoid using cot bumpers and don’t place any soft toys in your baby’s crib.

 

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