Creating the Perfect Sleep Setup for Your Baby’s Safety and Comfort

Creating the Perfect Sleep Setup for Your Baby’s Safety and Comfort

Ensuring your baby gets good rest is an essential aspect of newborn care that contributes to healthy brain development and growth. However, with so much conflicting advice on how to ensure infants sleep well, you may wonder if there truly is an ideal sleep setup for your baby. 

Knowing what the experts have to say is critical to keeping your baby safe and healthy at all times. Below are some proven tips that will help you make sure they get the rest they need.

Ensure Your Baby Sleeps Alone

It’s important not to let yourself (or anyone else, for that matter) share a bed with your baby. Bed-sharing increases the likelihood that someone in the bed may accidentally roll onto the baby while both are sleeping. Not only that, but the baby can become trapped between the headboard and mattress, roll off of the mattress, or suffocate with soft bedding. 

Furthermore, some experts believe that sleeping on a soft mattress, as many adult beds have, can cause “rebreathing,” in which a baby breathes in their own exhaled air. That, in turn, can lead to a drop in oxygen levels and a dangerous rise in carbon dioxide levels.

Try Room Sharing Instead

Many newborn care specialists recommend a more general room-sharing setup as opposed to bed-sharing. Having your baby sleep in a crib in the same room as you can make it easier to feed, comfort, and monitor them for any concerning changes during sleep. 

Beyond those benefits, room-sharing is also the safest option. It also allows you to keep your baby close without the added dangers that can come with sharing a bed. Additionally, research shows that infants who don’t share a room with their caregiver are 19 times more likely to experience sleep-related suffocation.

Place Your Baby on Their Back

In addition to ensuring the baby sleeps in their crib, it’s also vital to ensure they sleep on their back. 

Research shows that having your baby sleep on their stomach can increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) by anywhere from 1.7 to 12.9 times. Experts believe that having babies sleep on their sides can also increase the risk of SIDS, as it makes it easier for them to eventually roll onto their stomachs. Many pediatric pulmonologists also believe that stomach sleeping can also lead to rebreathing. 

Some also believe that stomach sleeping leads to deeper sleep, which can make it difficult for the baby to arouse themselves and adjust their breathing when needed. Finally, some think that stomach or side sleeping can make it harder for the baby’s body to release excess heat, which can lead to overheating.

Preventing a Flat Head

You may have heard that having your baby sleep on their back all the time can lead to flat head syndrome, also known as positional plagiocephaly. While doctors don’t typically consider it a life-threatening condition, there are actions you can and should take to help prevent your baby’s head from flattening, such as:

  • Repositioning their heads from left to right during sleep
  • Practicing supervised tummy time in short segments each day
  • Placing a mobile above the baby’s crib to encourage head turning when awake
  • Reducing how much time the baby spends with their heads against a flat surface during waking hours

These actions can often be enough to either prevent positional plagiocephaly or help it go away on its own.

Creating the Right Crib Setup

Your baby should always sleep on their back in a crib or a bassinet. Though it may be tempting to let them sleep in their car seat or a baby swing, doing so can cause blockages in their airways.

Make sure to always use a tightly fitted sheet around a firm baby mattress. You don’t want to have sheets that can easily slide off the bed and become a suffocation risk for your baby during the night. Soft bedding, such as baby blankets, sheets, comforters, pillows, and even stuffed animals, can lead to suffocation. Consequently, you should avoid putting them in the crib with your baby. You will also want to ensure the slats on your baby’s crib are spaced no more than 2-3/8 inches apart.

Setting Up For Bed

You’ll need to make sure that nothing is in the crib with your baby when it’s time for bed. Although you already know about the dangers of having people in the same sleeping space with your baby, it’s also important to avoid placing any objects over or near them while they sleep.

Many product manufacturers make claims about items that can prevent SIDS, but these products often don’t meet federal guidelines for testing and can be more risky than they’re worth. If you’re curious about a particular product, ask a newborn care specialist before placing it in the crib with them during bedtime.

Keep the Environment (and Your Baby) Comfortable

In addition to clean, smoke-free air, you should ensure the temperature in the room is comfortable for your baby to sleep. One rule of thumb you can follow is that if the room temperature feels good to you, it likely feels good to your baby as well.

Another common piece of newborn care advice is to dress your baby in one more layer than you would wear to bed, such as a onesie under their pajamas. Doing so can help keep them warm while preventing overheating, which can cause changes in the brain that can interfere with breathing and waking. 

Finally, the American Association of Pediatric Dentistry recommends offering your baby a pacifier to help decrease the likelihood of SIDS.

Safe Sleep Brings Peace of Mind to Everyone in the Household

Where and how your baby sleeps can make all the difference when it comes to their safety and comfort. As you consider your baby’s sleep setup and environment, it’s important to keep research and guidelines from newborn care experts in mind to ensure your baby can breathe well and avoid danger. Your attention to detail not only leads to peaceful sleep for your baby, but it can bring you comfort and peace of mind as well.