SIDS risk reduction
Around 30 years ago, a significant change in baby sleep advice was made and the death rate from Sudden Infant Death (SIDS) was consequently halved. Parents were no longer advised to lay their babies on their tummies to sleep, instead to lay them on their backs. The “Back To Sleep Campaign” has been recognised for its role in educating parents and saving lives.
Research into how babies sleep has continued to inform and educate. Leaders in the field of mother and baby sleep include Dr James McKenna at the Mother-Baby Behavioural Sleep Laboratory in the US and Helen Ball, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Durham Infancy and Sleep Centre in the UK.
Guidelines around safe sleep for infants - including room sharing and bed sharing - now focus on teaching all parents how to safely share a sleep surface with their baby as research shows the majority will do so in the the first months of life.
“Although many new parents think they will never sleep with their baby, research shows that many do so, for all kinds of reasons. About 50% of UK babies have bed-shared by the time they are 3 months old, and on any night of the week a fifth of all babies sleep with a parent. Most of these are babies who are being breastfed, and three quarters (70-80%) of breastfed babies sleep with their mother or parents some of the time in the early months. It is important that ALL parents are informed about bed-sharing and have
thought about how they will manage night-time care. ”
