Promote Safe Sleep - Articles and Research

Safe Sleep Practices

Safe Sleep Practices and SIDS/Suffocation Risk Reduction

Applicable Standards from: Caring for Our Children

AAP Expands Guidelines for Infant Sleep Safety and SIDS Risk Reduction

October 17, 2011 - Since the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended all babies should be placed on their backs to sleep in 1992, deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome have declined dramatically. But sleep-related deaths from other causes, including suffocation, entrapment and asphyxia, have increased. Read More

Rethinking SIDS: Many Deaths No Longer A Mystery

The thought of a baby dying suddenly and unexpectedly is one that keeps parents awake at night, fearing the worst. For years, little was known about sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. Babies would die in their sleep, and it was presumed that little could be done to prevent those deaths. More

Sleeping with Your Baby Presents Dangers

By Diane Chun, Staff writer

Published: Friday, January 28, 2011

Sometimes the greatest dangers for a newborn baby lurk right in the family home.

It's a sad truth brought into the spotlight after the recent deaths of two Gainesville babies, one 14 months old and the other just 6 months, who were each "co-sleeping" in the same bed with an adult family member.

Infant Sleep Poisitioners Post Suffocation Risk, FDA Says

GARDINER HARRIS

Published: Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 5:12 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 5:12 a.m.

Infant sleep positioners that are used to keep babies on their backs and protect them from sudden infant death syndrome have led 12 children to suffocate in the past 13 years and should no longer be used, federal officials said Wednesday.

Most of the infants suffocated after rolling from a side position to a stomach position. In addition to the reported deaths, the government has received dozens of reports of infants who were placed on their backs or sides in sleep positioners, only to be found later in potentially hazardous positions within or next to the sleep positioners.

Study: Breast-feeding Would Save Lives, Money

April 5, 2010 - The lives of nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women breast-fed their babies for the first six months of life, a cost analysis says…More

Study: Babies' Low Serotonin Levels Cause SIDS

February 2, 2010 - Researchers may have solved the mystery of what makes some babies vulnerable to sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, which kills more than 2,300 babies a year…More

Longer Breastfeeding Good for Kids' Mental Health

January 12, 2010 – A novel study has established that breastfeeding for a longer time can aid an infant’s mental health in the growing years…More

Children Exposed to Tobacco Smoke Show Early Adult Emphysema

December 28, 2009 – A new study shows that children who are exposed to tobacco smoke at home face early emphysema in adulthood. The findings suggest children’s lungs do not recover from exposure to tobacco smoke, making smoking cessation an important goal for family and parents with young children – not to mention the personal health gains found from discontinuing smoking…More

Study Links Factors to Choice of Infant Sleep Position

December 7, 2009 - Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified three principal factors linked to whether caregivers place infants to sleep on their backs. A large body of research has shown that placing infants on their backs to sleep reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of death during the first year of life in the United States…More

Ads Promote Unsafe Sleep for Babies

December 3, 2009 - In August, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a study on how sleeping infants are portrayed in magazines targeted at women. The results weren’t good – more than one third of the photos in women’s magazines depicted babies in unsafe sleep positions and environments…More

Reducing the Risk of SIDS in Child Care

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Healthy Child Care America is pleased to announce the release of a new online module on Reducing the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Child Care! Based off of the AAP Reducing the Risk of SIDS in Child Care Speakers Kit, this free course is designed to educate everyone who cares for babies, including child care providers, health care professionals, parents, grandparents, and relatives...More

Infant Sleep Environments Depicted in Magazines Targeted to Women of Childbearing Age

April 10, 2009 - Messages in print media demonstrating infants in inappropriate sleep positions or unsafe sleep environments may create confusion and misinformation about infant sleep safety and may lead inadvertently to unsafe practices…More