Infant Sleep: SIDS & Crib Safety

A new study examined trends and factors associated with infant sleeping position.

The study analyzed telephone surveys from 1993 through 2007. Each year’s survey involved nighttime caregivers of infants born within the last seven months. They were asked, “Do you have a position you usually place your baby in?”

Results show that the proportion of babies placed to sleep on their backs steadily increased between 1993 and 2001. But there was no change after 2001.

Maternal concerns about infant comfort and choking reduced the rate that infants were placed to sleep on their backs. Caregivers were more likely to put infants to sleep on their backs if they were advised to do so by a doctor.

“Placing infants on their backs for sleep remains the single most effective means we know to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome," Marian Willinger, PhD, said in a NIH news release. She is the special assistant for SIDS research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The NICHD funded the analysis.

In 1994 the NICHD launched the “Back to Sleep” campaign. It urges parents and caregivers to place infants to sleep on their backs.

The NICHD reports that the rate of infant back sleeping has increased from roughly 25 percent to about 70 percent. At the same time, the SIDS rate has decreased by more than 50 percent.

Last month the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the voluntary recall of more than 2.1 million drop-side cribs made by Stork Craft. This included about 147,000 cribs with the Fisher-Price logo. The cribs were sold at major retailers such as Sears and Wal-Mart.



There have been 110 reported incidents of drop-side detachment in the U.S. and Canada. These included 15 entrapments and 20 falls from the crib. Four of the entrapments resulted in suffocation. Fall injuries ranged from concussion to bumps and bruises.

Consumers can contact Stork Craft to receive a free repair kit. It allows you to convert the drop-side on these cribs to a fixed side. Parents and caregivers are urged to stop using the recalled cribs until the repair is made.

Contact Stork Craft toll-free at (877) 274-0277 anytime to order the free repair kit. You also can go online to www.storkcraft.com. For more information on Crib Safety, visit the CPSC's Crib Information Center.

Earlier this year the Sleep Education Blog reported that babies should never be put to sleep in a car safety seat. Learn more about sleep and infants & toddlers.