Safe Sleep for Your Infant
Every infant needs a safe and comforting place to sleep. But having your infant sleep with you can be a risky decision. In 2006, 52 infants in Florida died from accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.
Room sharing (infant sleeping in the parent’s room) without bed sharing is associated with reduced risk of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Syndrome.
Research indicates that:
- co-sleeping is actually disruptive to the sleep of both the adult and the infant
- there are challenges associated with transitioning children into a separate bed
- there may be child developmental problems associated with co-sleeping.
- the safety risks to the child are greater the longer the bed is shared
You don’t have to buy a fancy layette or basinet -babies do not care about the looks or expense of their bed, but babies do need their own place to sleep.
You may want to print a copy of the “Safe Sleep for Your Infant” brochure or visit https://safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov/ for additional information.
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