It brings a sigh of relief to Mom and Dad when this peaceful moment occurs. Naturally, all parents want to have their infant fall into a deep sound sleep, because a baby that gets the required sleep is less likely to be a pool of crying eyes afterwards.
Creating the right sleep environment for infants and using recommended sleep guidelines from health professionals can make all the difference to both the parents and the infant’s well being. When parents follow proper sleep guidelines for infants, it can lessen the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
To help young parents, we’ve collected these helpful tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics to check to see if you’re helping your infant’s sleeping practices. We hope so!
Sleeping guidelines for infants
- Babies should sleep on firm, flat sleep surfaces. We recommend the original babybay bedside co-sleeper to start out with when you arrive home with your infant. You can then convert this sleeper into a bassinet as your baby grows.
- Babies under 12 months old should be carefully placed on their back to sleep for naps. The AAP notes that your baby can be left in a side or front position, if your baby is already able to roll from the back-lying position to the side or stomach.
- The AAP strongly discourages bed-sharing habits for infants under a year old with parents. But we definitely recommend letting your baby sleep in the same room, and alongside your bed in a baby bed.
- Try not to let your babies sleep with any kind of soft pillows, plush toy animals, comforters, blankets or extra bedding parts until at least a year and a half old. Just a baby in a onesie often works best.
- Keep the baby’s crib or bassinet within reaching distance of the parent bed. This helps to comfort the baby or breastfeed without having to stand up and walk over to a crib.
These are just a few of the highlighted guidelines recommended by the AAP for the safety of your child. It’s important that your baby sleeps on the back for a more restful sleep. And that’s why we think that our babybay is the right baby bed sleeper to have the whole family sleep better!