Infant Sleep Safety

Unlike adults and older children, infants are vulnerable to sleep related injury due to a variety of circumstances such as their sleeping environments and the way they are sleeping. It’s therefore important for parents to take the correct measures to make sure your child is sleeping in the safest way possible. 

Always place a baby on their back to sleep.

This keeps your baby's airways clear, reducing the risk of suffocation, overheating and choking.

Keep your baby’s face and head uncovered.

Bubs control their temperature through their face and head, so keeping their face and head uncovered reduces the risk of overheating. It also keeps their airways clear which reduces the risk of suffocation.

Tuck blankets in firmly or use a safe baby sleeping bag - If a blanket is being used instead of a sleeping bag, ensure your baby is placed with their feet at the end of the cot, tucking the blanket in securely underneath the mattress, so it can only ride up as far as baby’s chest and cannot cover their head.

Bed Sharing

Bubs should always sleep alone and on their own sleep surface, it can be in the same room as you and this is actually preferable, but always in their own cot.

Safe Sleeping Environment

Safe Cot

Use a cot that meets the current Australian and New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 2172. If buying a second-hand cot try and get one that is less than 10 years old that will also meet the current standards. Cots that don’t meet these standards can have health risks such as large gaps or sides that are too low.

Safe Mattress

Ensure the mattress is firm and flat. Soft or inclined surfaces can result in blocking airways.

Ensure the mattress is the right size, a baby can get stuck in gaps between a poorly fitted mattress and the cot sides. You want the gap between the mattress and cot to be no smaller than 20mm.

Safe Bedding

Remove Soft bedding such as pillows, quilts, doonas, soft toys and bumpers from your baby’s cot as these can cover the baby’s face and obstruct breathing as well cause overheating.

Make sure if using a mattress protector that they are thin and fitted to the mattress tightly and no bunching is able to occur.

Visibility

Anything that makes it harder to see the baby while sleeping such as curtains, mobiles, high box sides should be avoided.