Follow the steps below to give your baby the best start in life.
Advice for parents to reduce the risk of cot death:
- cut smoking in pregnancy – fathers too! And don’t let anyone smoke in the same room as your baby.
- place your baby on the back to sleep (and not on the front or side).
- do not let your baby get too hot, and keep your baby’s head uncovered.
- place your baby with their feet to the foot of the cot, to prevent them wriggling down under the covers.
- never sleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair.
- the safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib or cot in a room with you for the first six months.
- it’s especially dangerous for your baby to sleep in your bed if you (or your partner):
- are a smoker, even if you never smoke in bed or at home
- have been drinking alcohol
- take medication or drugs that make you drowsy
- feel very tired; or if your baby:
- was born before 37 weeks weighed less than 2.5kg or 5½ lbs at birth.
Don’t forget, accidents can happen: you might roll over in your sleep and suffocate your baby; or your baby could get caught between the wall and the bed, or could roll out of an adult bed and be injured.
- settling your baby to sleep (day and night) with a dummy can reduce the risk of cot death, even if the dummy falls out while your baby is asleep.
- breastfeed your baby. Establish breastfeeding before starting to use a dummy.
For more information visit FSID’s
www.fsid.org.uk
