I HATE TO EAT AND RUN, BUT….
 

I love the time we have together, Mom and Dad, when you feed and cuddle me, but I really need to sleep in my own crib.  It’s just too dangerous for me to sleep with you in your bed.  Did you know that babies sleeping in adult beds are 20 times more likely to suffocate than babies who sleep alone in cribs?  So, love me, feed me, cuddle me, and then help me to be safe – put me in my crib to sleep.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Parents, concerned about keeping their infant warm as they sleep, place extra blankets on their baby.  While this might instinctively make sense, it in fact increases the risk for SIDS.  The number of infants who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, increases in the cold winter months.  Many SIDS deaths really are suffocation deaths. 

During the mid-1990’s, a “Back To Sleep” campaign was launched, which encouraged parents to place their infants on the backs to sleep, in a crib with a firm mattress with no blankets or fluffy bedding under or over them.  Since the start of that campaign, progress has been made - the overall SIDS rate in the United States has declined by more than 50 percent. 

Despite this drop in SIDS deaths, it still is the leading cause of death in infants between 1 month and 1 year of age, and claims the lives of approximately 2,500 babies each year.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently issued updated recommendations for reducing the risk of SIDS:

• Always place your baby on her back to sleep, for naps and at night;
• Place your baby on a firm sleep surface, such as a safety-approved crib mattress covered by a fitted sheet;
• Keep your baby’s sleep area close to, but separate from, where you and others sleep;
• Keep soft objects, toys, and loose bedding out of your baby’s sleep area;
• Do not allow smoking around your baby.

In an effort to help parents keep their infants warm and safe this winter, CAPA is providing a HALO sleep sack, or wearable blanket, to every newborn at the Hillsdale Community Health Center.  It keeps babies warm without needing loose blankets.  Along with the sleep sack, parents receive information about safe sleep rules.  CAPA wants to help parents to be the best parents they can be!