Safe sleep

What It Means

Safe sleep is the set of practices the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends to lower a baby's risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation. At its core, the baby sleeps on their back, alone, on a firm, flat surface in a crib, bassinetBassinetA small bed made for a young baby, often kept beside the parents' bed. CPSC says it's for babies up to about 5 months or until they can push up on hands and knees. See more or play yard with only a fitted sheet, for naps as well as nights. The AAP's current version is its 2022 policy statement, and federal product rules from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) sit alongside it.

How Parents Say It

• "Back to sleep, every time."
• "Bare crib, just the fitted sheet."
• "Can you take the blanket out of the bassinet?"

The Breakdown

What the rules say

Who it applies to. The AAP's advice covers babies up to 1 year old, and it applies to everyone who puts a baby down: parents, grandparents, sitters and child care.

Federal product rules, with their dates

• Since June 23, 2022, CPSC's infant sleep products rule has made it unlawful to sell a noncompliant infant sleep product made on or after that date, and it requires a sleep surface angle of 1010,000 stepsA popular daily step goal that began as the name of a 1960s Japanese pedometer; later studies find health benefits begin well below it. See more degrees or less.
• Since November 12, 2022, the Safe Sleep for Babies Act has banned the sale, manufacture and import of crib bumpers and inclined sleepers for infants.

What to have ready. A crib, bassinet or play yard that meets current CPSC standards, its own mattress, and fitted sheets that fit that mattress.

Good to Know

The AAP's 2022 policy puts sleep-related infant deaths in the US at about 3,500 a year, which is why it asks caregivers to follow these practices for every sleep. Safe to Sleep, the National Institutes of Health campaign, says a crib that looks bare with only a fitted sheet is the safest choice. Read the full advice on HealthyChildren.org, the AAP's site for parents, and ask your pediatrician about anything that's hard to follow at home. If your baby isn't breathing or can't be woken, call 911.

Related Terms and Categories

• Room sharing

  Having a baby sleep in the parents' room in their own crib, bassinet or play yard. The AAP advises it for at least the first 6 months, without bed-sharing.

• Co-sleeping

  A parent and baby sleeping close together. Bed-sharing on the same surface is the form the AAP can't recommend; room-sharing on separate surfaces is the one it advises.

• Sleep sack

  A wearable blanket a baby sleeps in, zipped over their clothes, that keeps them warm without a loose blanket in the crib.

• Bassinet

  A small bed made for a young baby, often kept beside the parents' bed. CPSC says it's for babies up to about 5 months or until they can push up on hands and knees.

• Crib nap

  A daytime nap a baby or toddler takes in their own crib, instead of in arms, a car seat or a stroller.

Baby and toddler