Having a baby is extremely overwhelming in every way, and often parents aren’t getting enough sleep- much less concentrating on precisely how their babies are sleeping at every moment when they finally go down. It’s a good idea to check in with a helpful and necessary website like Safe Sleep by MonBaby to just read the basics and facts about SIDS, and to do what you can to prevent it. October is SIDS awareness month, so for those of us with babies under the age of one, let’s review some basics. Most cases of SIDS occur within the first six months of life, although it can happen throughout the first year. Although much of SIDS is still a mystery, but some ways to prevent it have been proven to work. New studies reveal that half of parents still don’t follow safe sleep recommendations. Besides helpful hints, scientific developments, and moving stories from parents who’ve lost children to SIDS, the site gives us all a checklist of things to definitely do:
- Sleep baby on back, not on their stomach.
- Have a crib in the same bedroom, rather than having your baby sleep in the same bed as you do.
- Have baby sleep in an empty crib only furnished with a fitted sheet. No toys, no blankets, et.
- A firm mattress rather than soft bedding is best.
- Offer baby a pacifier to sleep, rather than forcing one.
- Prevent overheating by dressing your baby in breathable clothing rather than using a warm blanket.
Please have everyone in the household stop smoking (including yourself, obviously), because babies who die of SIDS have been found to have higher concentrations of nicotine in their lungs than babies who die of other causes. Lower birth weights and hindered development, all associated with nicotine, have been known factors in SIDS deaths too. Although all cases cannot be prevented, a lot of situations can be altered to better your baby’s chances for surviving the first year.
Rebecca Conroy is an artist, stylist, and Editor of A Child Grows in Brooklyn. She is from New York City, and has an MFA from Columbia University in screenwriting. Rebecca often finds herself on film and photography sets making things run or look better, and is the mom of two outrageously wonderful kids.
