The Oregon Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority remind new parents about safe sleep practices

During Safe Sleep and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month this October, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) are urging families across Oregon to create sleep environments that support a baby’s healthy development.

Newborns arrive with incredible potential, and their growing bodies develop rapidly in their first months of life. Their soft, flexible rib cages, developing muscles, and still‑maturing brain centers for breathing and heart rate are all part of the amazing growth that happens early.

This window of early development puts infants at a higher risk for Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID). Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) is a broad term that includes several causes—SIDS, accidental suffocation or strangulation in bed, and deaths of unknown cause. Many risks associated with SUID can be reduced by creating a safe, uncluttered sleep environment and placing babies on their backs for every nap and every night.

The good news is that supportive sleep practices can make a big difference. When babies sleep in the same room as a caregiver on a firm, flat surface without pillows or soft bedding, they have the safest conditions for steady breathing and healthy sleep. Caregivers who do not use alcohol, drugs, and other substances help ensure that adults are fully alert and able to respond to infants’ needs.

Some products and practices can unintentionally create risks. Inclined sleepers, infant loungers, and similar items can cause a baby’s head to tilt forward, narrowing the airway. Stomach sleeping or soft bedding can put pressure on the chest or block breathing. Sharing an adult bed increases the risk of rolling onto a baby, especially when adults are extremely tired or under the influence of substances. Couches and chairs are not safe places for infants to sleep.

Nearly 40 infants in the state die each year in their sleep, said Dean Sidelinger, M.D., M.S.Ed., health officer and state epidemiologist at OHA’s Public Health Division.

“Every child death is a tragedy,” Sidelinger said. “Many of these deaths during sleep are preventable by following some easy steps, which we are sharing today.”

Among them are encouraging families to take advantage of free, voluntary nurse home visiting programs administered through OHA. They include Babies First!, Family Connects Oregon and Nurse-Family Partnership. Safe infant sleep is one of the topics covered during home visits.

Another resource is Oregon Family Care Plans. This collaboration of Comagine Health, OHA, and ODHS helps parents and caregivers build strong, sustainable care plans to address life challenges, such as pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, and includes safe infant sleep practices.

“Family Care Plans are an opportunity to partner with families about their most pressing needs and concerns, including their infant’s sleep environment. When an unmet need is identified by a family working with ODHS, it helps us partner alongside the family to fill in the gap to improve the safety and well-being of the whole family,” Child Welfare Interim Director Rolanda Garcia said.

Some parents choose to sleep with their baby, which can be unsafe. It can be especially unsafe to sleep with your baby if:

• You are sleeping on a soft surface, such as an adult bed with quilts, comforters, and pillows, a sofa, couch or armchair.
• You currently smoke or smoked during pregnancy.
• You have taken drugs, including cannabis, alcohol or medications that make you sleepy.

Tips for caring for infants:

• Always put your baby to sleep on his/her back.
• Put your baby to sleep in the room where you sleep.
• Remove soft, fluffy bedding, pillows, stuffed toys and bumper pads from your baby’s sleep area. Use a firm sleep surface. Avoid placing your baby to sleep on soft things like couches or upholstered chairs, waterbeds, beanbag chairs, quilts or comforters.
• Talk with grandparents and other caregivers about safe sleep information.
• Offer a pacifier at nap time and bedtime. This helps reduce the risk of SIDS. If you are breastfeeding, wait until breastfeeding is going well before offering a pacifier. This usually takes three to four weeks. It’s OK if your baby doesn’t want to use a pacifier.
• Make sure no one smokes around your baby.
• Breastfeed your baby, if possible.
• Avoid overheating and head covering.

Resources

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.