INFANT SAFE SLEEP RESOURCES
The following are some additional resources for parents and child care professionals.
FOR PARENTS
Dr. Rachel Moon of George Washington University has advised parents to steer clear of commercial sleep websites, such as those from retailers selling infant products. She and her colleagues found 185 relevant websites from companies or interest groups; 54 of them (29 percent) gave incorrect information.
- Infant Sleep Safety page at Children’s Hospital Colorado Sleep Center
- Safe to Sleep campaign: the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); et al
information for health care practitioners
Another study by Dr. Rachel Y. Moon, of Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. shows evidence of poor compliance with AAP recommendations on sleep positioning by both health personnel (the primary birth hospitals were surprisingly among the last, rather than first, to implement the AAP recommendations) and parents.
Two years after the AAP recommendations were issued, only 60 percent of all the parents surveyed reported receiving instructions consistent with AAP recommendations. Among the inner-city, low-income parents, only 48 percent reported receiving AAP instructions, whereas nearly three-quarters of the private practice patients had been appropriately instructed. The following is information and resources for pediatricians, childcare workers and parents:
- THE JOURNAL of the AMERICAN PEDIATRICS ASSOCIATION. SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Expansion of Recommendations for Safe Infant Sleep Environment. AAP Safe Sleep Recommendations
- NURSES’ CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM on (SIDS) RISK REDUCTION. In partnership with several nursing organizations, First Candle/SIDS Alliance, and the National Institute of Nursing Research, the NICHD has designed this CE offering to provide you with the information and tools necessary to effectively communicate SIDS risk-reduction messages. NICHD's Nurses' CE on SIDS Risk-Reduction
- DEATHS and INJURIES ATTRIBUTED to INFANT CRIB BUMPER PADS. Most infant cribs sold in the United States are used with bumper pads. Twenty-seven accidental deaths reported by medical examiners or coroners were attributed to bumper pads. The mechanism of death included suffocation and strangulation by bumper ties. Twenty-five nonfatal injuries were identified, and most consisted of minor contusions (survey 2007). The First Candle Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Alliance cautions that bumper pads should be “thin, firm but not pillow like. Death by Crib Bumpers
- CEREBRAL OXYGENATION Is DEPRESSED DURING SLEEP In HEALTHY TERM INFANTS WHEN THEY SLEEP PRONE. Babies who slept on their stomachs had lower levels of oxygen in their brains, which may help to explain why this sleeping position is associated with an increase in the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), say Australian researchers. Prone sleeping reduces cerebral oxygen in infants
- ABNORMALITIES in the PLACENTA of PREGNANT WOMEN MAY PREDISPOSE NEWBORNS to an INCREASED RISK OF SIDS according to a study in Early Human Development. Signs of SIDS Risks in the Womb
- BELIEFS and PERCEPTIONS about SIDS in AFRICAN-AMERICAN MOTHERS. Many African-American mothers may not understand the connection between SIDS and sleep behaviors or believe that behavior (other than vigilance) cannot affect risk. These beliefs, if acted on, may affect rates of safe sleep practices. Efforts to explain a plausible link between SIDS and safe sleep recommendations and to improve consistency of the message may result in increased adherence to these recommendations. Beliefs and Perceptions about SIDS in African-American Mothers
- SLEEP DISORDERS IN CHILDREN For information on general sleep disorders in children, please visit: Children's Hospital Sleep Center