Ascension Via Christi Birth and Women's Center

ABCs of safe sleep 

As a safe sleep hospital, Via Christi Hospital Birth & Women’s Center follows guidelines set by the American Academy of Pediatrics for safe sleep. We provide education and guidance to parents and caregivers on safe sleep practices. To help ensure your baby sleeps safely, follow the ABCs of safe sleep:

• Alone — Share your room, not your bed. Your baby should not sleep with others in a bed, on a couch or in a chair.
• Back — Your baby should sleep on his or her back in a safety-approved crib on a firm mattress during naps and at nighttime.
• Crib — The crib should be empty. Remove all loose bedding, comforters, quilts, stuffed animals, bumpers, wedges and pillows from your baby's crib.

Safe sleep guidelines

Here are recommendations from our partner pediatricians and pediatric specialists to help your child sleep safely:

• Place your baby on their back to sleep every time, for naps and at night.
• Use a sleep surface for your baby that is firm (returns to original shape quickly if pressed on) flat (like a table, not a hammock), level (not at an angle or incline) and covered only by a fitted sheet. 
  • There should be no gaps between the mattress and the side of the crib, bassinet, portable crib or enclosed play space.
• Feeding with human milk is recommended because it is associated with a reduced risk of SIDS. Promote any human milk feeding for at least two months, and exclusively for at least six months to one year or beyond, if mutually desired by both infant and parent. 
• Share a room with your baby for at least six months. Give babies their own sleep space (crib, bassinet or portable play yard) in caregivers room, separate from caregivers bed. 
  • Your baby should not sleep in an adult bed, on a couch or a chair, alone, with you or with anyone else.
• Keep things out of your baby’s sleep area by removing soft objects such as pillows, pillow-like toys, quilts, comforters, mattress toppers, fur-like material, and loose bedding, such as blankets and non fitted sheets.
• Offer your baby a pacifier not attached to anything for naps and at night once they are breastfeeding well.
• Stay smoke and vape free during pregnancy, and keep your baby’s surroundings smoke and vape free.
• Stay drug and alcohol free during pregnancy, and make sure anyone caring for your baby is drug and alcohol free.
• Avoid letting your baby get too hot, and keep the baby's head and face uncovered during sleep.
• Avoid heart, breathing, motion, and other monitors that reduce the risk of SIDS.
• Give babies plenty of “tummy time” when they are awake, and when someone is watching them.
  • Parents are encouraged to place the infant in tummy time while awake and supervised for short periods of time beginning soon after hospital discharge, increasing incrementally to at least 15 to 30 minutes total daily by age seven weeks.
• Avoid products and devices that go against safe sleep guidance, especially those that claim to “prevent” SIDS and sleep-related deaths.
• Avoid swaddling once your baby starts to roll over (usually around three months of age), and keep in mind that swaddling does not reduce SIDS risk.
• Sitting devices, such as car seats, strollers, swings, infant carriers, and infant slings, are not recommended for routine sleep, particularly for infants younger than four months.
  •  If your baby falls asleep in a car seat, stroller or other carrier, move them to a firm sleep surface such as a crib, bassinet or portable crib for sleep.