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Recommendations that apply to both cribs and adult beds
- Use a firm mattress
- Bedding should fit tightly around the mattress.
- Avoid strings or ties on all nightclothes (both baby's and parents')
- Avoid soft bedding and other items, including comforters, pillows, featherbeds, stuffed animals, etc.
- Keep baby's face uncovered to allow ventilation.
- Put baby on her back to sleep.
- Adults should avoid smoking
- Avoid overheating the room in which baby sleeps.
Additional recommendations for bed-sharing
- There should be no gaps between the headboard/footboard and the mattress.
- A mother's very long hair should be pulled back and fastened.
- Adults with significant obesity should not bed-share.
- Adults using alcohol or other drugs should not bed-share.
- Adults taking over-the-counter or prescription medications that may cause them to sleep too soundly should not bed-share.
- Head/foot board railings should have spaces no bigger than are allowed in safety approved cribs.
- Refrain from using bedrails with infants less than one year.
- Refrain from allowing additional siblings in bed with infant less than 6 months of age.
- Do not bed-share in a waterbed.
- Do not sleep with baby on sofas or overstuffed chairs.
- Do not put baby to sleep alone in an adult bed.
While safety-approved cribs come ready-made, parents who choose to bed-share with their infants must be proactive. They themselves must make their sleep environment as safe as possible for their baby. Both parents need to feel comfortable with the decision to place the baby in the environment that is chosen--crib or adult bed--as well as be committed to following the above safety precautions for either environment. No single sleep environment can guarantee that a baby wil be risk-free, but there are ways of reducing risk in both cribs and adult beds.
 Want to learn more? Check out the SIDS Alliance web site.
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