Safer Sleep Week 2018 - In Support of The Lullaby Trust - Baby : Bump, Baby and You, Pregnancy, Parenting and Baby Advice and Info

Safer Sleep Week 2o18

As parents, the safety of our babies is paramount, right? Especially when it comes to sleep, as we need to sleep too. However, you’d be surprised how many parents aren’t aware of the safe sleep guidance. 4 babies a week die of SIDS in the UK, and with the correct information, we can work together to lower this number.

Here is our guide to Safer Sleep Week, to advocate the safe sleep guidelines and raise awareness.

What is safer sleep week?

‘Safer Sleep Week is our national awareness campaign targeting anyone looking after a young baby. It aims to raise awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the proven advice on how parents can reduce the risk of it occurring.’ (The Lullaby Trust)

What is The Lullaby Trust?

The Lullaby Trust is an organisation originally founded in 1971 under the name The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) in 1971. You can read more about their history here.

The Lullaby Trust pioneered the Back To Sleep campaign in 1991 after TV presenter Anne Diamond lost her son to SIDS; The Lullaby Trust, Anne and The Department of Health joined forces to raise awareness of the importance of a baby sleeping on their back, as well as other safety factors, and it was a hugely successful campaign that resonates to this day – the rate of SIDS, as a result, has dropped by over 80%!

The main purpose of The Lullaby Trust is to advocate for safer sleep environments for babies through awareness and campaigning, and provide support for parents who are bereaved. They are determined to reduce the SIDS rate further, and their ultimate goal is to halve the number of deaths from 2009 rates by 2020.

What are the safe sleep guidelines?

You can read up on the safe sleep guidelines here on The Lullaby Trust website.

To summarise them…

Nothing in the cot, as in no bumper, no toys.
Feet to foot of cot.
Firm surface, baby on back.
No pillows or quilts until the age of 1.
Cot away from windows and radiators.
Baby in your room until at least 6 months.

I don’t follow these and my child is fine?

‘My child is fine’ is like a red rag to a bull to me. It makes my eyes want roll out of my head.

You may be able to flippantly say this, but many parents can’t. These guidelines are evidence based and your good fortune is no reflection on the accuracy of these guidelines.

My cot set contains bumpers; how can I use them safely?

There is no way to safely use them when your baby is using the cot because they are purely decorative, which is extremely annoying if you are gifted or paying lots of money for a gorgeous cot bedding set!

However, many parents actually choose to use them on the feet of their cot to hide storage boxes; this method doesn’t restrict air flow, doesn’t raise the internal temperature of the cot, doesn’t give a child leverage to climb out and injure themselves, and if tied to the feet of the cot well out of the reach of baby, won’t pose a strangulation risk.

However, once your cot is on the lowest setting (usually when baby becomes mobile), you should remove them as we all know how clever little ones can be!