Risk
Factors
Is Your Baby At High Risk?
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Not yet 6 months old?
Babies younger than 6 months are at highest risk
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Keep your baby safe...
Always be careful (and extra careful) with premature babies or babies exposed to smoke.
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Deep Sleep Doesn't Mean Safe Sleep
Babies are not mini adults.
When a baby is sleeping, deep sleep blocks the brain from hearing the body's signal to breathe.
A light shorter sleep is okay and safe!
Being cool and not too full keeps baby's signals strong.
If a baby is sleeping deeply, messages to the brain may not be heard. It's like babies' brains just don't react. Messages could break down, and your job as a parent is to keep that message strong.
With a strong message the body says - I need air; the brain gets the message and tells us to wake up and take a deep breath.
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I'm Not There Yet!! - "Baby"
Our Body talks to our Brain and Our Brain tells us what to do
Throughout the day, our body talks to our brain to tell us what to do.
How do we know when we are hungry, hot, or thirsty?
Our body sends a message to the brain, and the brain sends a message - telling our body how to make things better.
If we are hungry, our stomach tells our brain, and our brain sends a message that we need to eat.
Sometimes we can miss a message because our brain doesn't send the signal... this can happen to babies when they sleep - to keep them safe, we need to make sure their brain receives the messages and tells them what to do.
Are you listening?
Baby's brain is learning how to hear their body's signals to breathe.
Breast feeding, or giving the right amount of formula, helps baby's signals stay strong.
A strong signal keeps them safe during sleep.
A Hot Looking Baby, Is Not A Good Thing
Make sure your baby isn't too hot!
You know how you feel when it is really hot outside - it makes you tired, drained, don't want to do anything; it's too hot to move.
The same thing happens to your baby if they get hot while they sleep.
Babies get warmer and stay warmer than we think. If babies get hot, they get drowsy, fatigued, and their body does not get the oxygen they need.
Protect your baby by keeping them cool.
Cool babies are safe babies.
Food Coma Is Not Safe
For Your Baby
Make sure your baby doesn't get too full!
We all know that when we are really full, after a big meal, you get sleepy and tired. When babies overeat, the same thing happens - and the signal to the brain is not strong enough.
Babies may fall into deeper sleep if they eat too much which is great for parents, because the baby sleeps longer
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When babies are too full, they get tired and sleepy, like us after Thanksgiving dinner.
For babies, too full = deep sleep = unable to wake up if they can't breathe.
Be careful! Thickening up your baby's formula with cereal makes them too full to be safe (before 6 months).
Ask your doctor when your baby is ready to start solid foods.