New 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
• is less than three months old.
• 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.
Take a more detailed look at our Cot Death Section |