Some parents choose to sleep with their baby.
To make sure your baby (birth to one year old) is as safe as possible:
- Always put your baby to sleep on his/her back.
- Make sure no one smokes around your baby.
- Breastfeed your baby.
- Put your baby to sleep in the room where you sleep.
- Remove soft fluffy bedding, pillows, stuffed toys and bumper pads from your baby’s sleep area.
- Try a sleep sack instead of a blanket.
- Avoid placing your baby to sleep on soft things like couches or upholstered chairs, waterbeds, beanbag chairs, quilts or comforters.
- Talk with grandparents and other caregivers about this safe sleep information.
- Offer a pacifier at nap time and bedtime. This helps to reduce the risk of SIDS. If you are breastfeeding, wait until breastfeeding is going well before offering a pacifier. This usually takes 3 to 4 weeks. It's OK if your baby doesn't want to use a pacifier. You can try offering again, but some babies don't like to use pacifiers. If your baby takes a pacifier and it falls out after he falls asleep, you don’t have to put it back in.
- Use a firm sleep surface.
- Avoid overheating and head covering.
Please talk to you healthcare provider about any concerns you may have.
It can be unsafe to sleep with your baby if:
- Your baby is less than 4 months old.
- Your bed has pillows, quilts, or comforters.
- You share the bed with pets or other children.
- You are sleeping on a soft surface such as a waterbed, old mattress, sofa, couch or armchair.
- You or your partner:
- Smokes
- Has taken drugs, alcohol, or medications that make you sleepy
- Are very tired or suffer from extreme exhaustion.