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Safe Sleep for Babies

The NYC Infant Safe Sleep Initiative

Every year, between 40 and 50 babies in New York City die from a preventable, sleep-related injury. Black families are twice as likely to have their baby die before their first birthday than white families and infants living in the Bronx and Brooklyn die at higher rates than other boroughs in the first year of life.

The NYC Infant Safe Sleep Initiative aims to prevent sleep-related infant injury deaths and address long-standing disparities to promote and protect the health and well-being of our youngest and most vulnerable New Yorkers. The Initiative's primary prevention focus, collaborations and partnerships aim to achieve equity in infant survival and close the black/white infant mortality gap by empowering communities with the highest rates of sleep-related infant injury deaths.

The ACS Safe Sleep Unit in the Division of Child and Family Well-Being provides free education and resources to help parents and caregivers of babies, child welfare professionals, clinicians, and advocates understand the risks and avoid preventable sleep-related infant fatalities. Our citywide public awareness campaigns, outreach activities, and free training, information and resources educate New Yorkers about potentially fatal practices like bed-sharing or stomach sleeping to ensure all children have a healthy, safe start in life and no family suffers the devastating loss of a child during sleep.

Safe Sleep Trainings

The Safe Sleep eLearning Program for NYC Child Welfare Professionals was developed in partnership with the ACS Workforce Institute, and is accessible on Cornerstone for ACS and provider agency staff. The interactive, two-module training is designed to:

Dispel common myths and misconceptions about infant sleep
Identify the behaviors that may contribute to seep-related injury deaths
Establish and practice Safe Sleep habits
Lead a strengths-based conversation with parents and caregivers around implementing infant safe sleep practices

Learn more about the Safe Sleep eLearning Program and register through the ACS Workforce Institute.

You may also request a Safe Sleep Training from our staff.

What is a Sleep-Related Injury Death?

A sleep-related injury death is the sudden death of an infant less than 1 year old that occurs because of where and/or how they were placed to sleep. Sleep-related infant injury death is not the same as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) or "crib death." SIDS is the natural death of a baby that cannot be explained after a careful medical review of the case. Unlike SIDS, sleep-related infant injury deaths involve accidents that can be explained and are mostly preventable.

Creating a Safe Sleep Environment

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Here are the most recent guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), issued in October 2016, for where and how to safely place your baby to sleep:

Cold Weather Infant Safe Sleeping Tips

Never share your bed or other sleep surface with baby for warmth. Remember the ABC's of Safe Sleep: Babies should always sleep Alone, on their Backs, in a Crib, play yard, or bassinet.
Resist the urge to crank up heating. Babies can't regulate their body temperature in the same way adults can so it's easy for them to get too hot, increasing the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Never put a hat on baby indoors, even when it's cold. A bare head is important for maintaining body temperature and releasing heat.

Babies should be placed on their backs to sleep.

Until their first birthday – for naps and at night. Babies breathe better on their backs than on their stomachs or sides. Sleeping on their backs opens up their chests and makes it easier for them to draw in more oxygen to their brains. Babies who sleep on their sides can more easily roll onto their stomach, making it harder for them to breathe and increasing their risk of suffocation. Babies are also MORE likely to choke, if they spit up, when placed on their stomach.

Avoid sharing a bed with your baby.

Your baby should never sleep in an adult bed, on a couch or on a chair with you or anyone else (e.g., other children or pets). Babies may suffocate if another person accidently rolls on top of them or covers their nose and mouth.
Keep your baby's sleep area near your bed for the first 6 to 12 months. Place your baby's crib, bassinet, portable crib or play yard next to your bed. This is called room sharing and will make it easier for you to feed, comfort and watch your baby without increasing the risk of sleep-related injury death.
If you bring your baby into bed with you to feed or comfort them, make sure you put them back in their bed before you fall asleep. Placing your baby's crib next to your bed can help make this easier. If you fall asleep in bed with your baby while feeding or comforting them, place them back to sleep in their own crib as soon as you wake up.

Use a firm sleep surface with a fitted sheet made for that specific product.

A crib, bassinet, portable crib or play yard that meets safety standards is recommended. Babies should be placed on a flat surface for all sleep times. Though it might seem more comfortable to put a pillow on top of the mattress, babies may suffocate on the soft surface.
Do not use a car seat, carrier, swing, bouncer or similar product as a sleep area.
Never place your baby to sleep on a couch, sofa or chair. These surfaces are not designed for a baby to sleep on and are very dangerous. A baby can get easily trapped between cushions, people or other objects that can cause him or her to suffocate.

Keep soft objects, loose bedding, or any other items that could increase the risk of suffocation out of the baby's sleep area.

Loose and soft bedding can be very dangerous to a baby. Do not place pillows, blankets, toys, or bumper pads anywhere in your baby's sleep area. If one of those things gets on the baby's face, he may not be able to move his face away and can suffocate.

Watch Breath of Life, a Safe Sleep Video:

Aliento De Vida: Por Qué El Sueño Seguro Es Importante Y Cómo Practicar El Sueño Seguro

Watch Breath of Life by Subject:

What is Safe Sleep Anyway?	Is Bed Sharing Safe?	Should I Bed Share If My Apartment is Cold?
Should I Bed Share When I'm Breast Feeding?	Why Should My Baby Sleep on His Back?	What About Side Sleeping? Is That Safe?
How Do I Prepare a Safe Crib for Sleeping?	What If My Family Doesn't Practice Safe Sleep?	If I Break the Safe Sleep Rules Occasionally, What's the Harm?
What If I Don't Have Enough Space for a Crib?	Baby Gear: Where Can my Baby Sleep?