The updated guidelines were presented at the 2016 AAP National Conference & Exhibition San Francisco, California, being held October 22 through 25, and were published online in the journal Pediatrics on Oct. 24.
“SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment,” is based on new research and is the first policy update by the academy since 2011.
The new policy still says that babies should sleep on their backs on a firm surface free of toys and blankets, a guideline put in place in the 1990s. This particular policy has helped to reduce the number of deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) by 50 percent, reports CTV News.
Co-author of the new guidelines, Dr. Lori Feldman-Winter, a professor of pediatrics at Cooper Medical School in Camden, N.J. says, “Babies should be brought to bed for feeding, but following feeding they should be returned to a separate sleep surface.” She added that breastfeeding can reduce the incidence of SIDS by as much as 70 percent.
Because a parent could fall asleep while feeding the baby, the guidelines also recommend keeping the parents’ bed free of loose pillows and piled up or tangled sheets and blankets that could suffocate a baby, reports CBS News.
Around 3,500 sleep-related deaths, including SIDS are reported in the United States every year. SIDS accounts for about 44 percent of these deaths, according to the CDC. But after a national safe-sleep campaign began in the 1990s, the number of SIDS deaths dropped significantly.
Evidence shows that the risk of SIDS is greatest in infants up to four months of age, but soft bedding is still a hazard for older babies. That is why the new guidelines recommend that the crib should be bare. Another consideration is the risks of exposure to smoking, alcohol, and illicit drugs.
There will be many parents who will object to the new guidelines, and that is understandable says Dr. David Mendez, a neonatologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. “Some parents want the baby in the bed right next to them; some parents want the baby to have its own room,” he said. But as one pediatrician said, “If this will save lives, we are all for it.”
