Airway Obstruction: Prevention

Be sure that your child is immunized. A child who’s absolutely immunized can scale back the chance for SIDS.

Breastfeed your child. The AAP recommends giving a child solely breast milk  for at the least 6 months.

Place your child on their again for all sleep or naps till they’re 1 12 months outdated. This may lower the chance for SIDS, aspiration, and choking. By no means place your child on their aspect or abdomen for sleep or naps. In case your child is awake, enable your little one time on their tummy so long as you might be supervising, to lower the possibilities that your little one will develop a flat head.

All the time speak along with your child’s healthcare supplier earlier than elevating the pinnacle of their crib in case your child has been recognized with gastroesophageal reflux (GERD or heartburn).

Provide your child a pacifier for sleeping or naps, if not breastfed. If breastfeeding, delay introducing a pacifier till breastfeeding has been firmly established.

Use a agency mattress (coated by a tightly fitted sheet) to forestall gaps between the mattress and the edges of a crib, a play yard, or a bassinet. This may lower the chance for entrapment, suffocation, and SIDS.

Share your room as a substitute of your mattress along with your child. Placing your child in mattress with you raises the chance for strangulation, suffocation, entrapment, and SIDS. Mattress sharing will not be really useful for twins or different multiples. The AAP recommends that infants sleep in the identical room as their dad and mom, near their father or mother’s mattress however in a separate mattress or crib applicable for infants. This sleeping association is really useful ideally for the child’s first 12 months, however ought to at the least be maintained for the primary 6 months.

Do not use toddler seats, automotive seats, strollers, toddler carriers, and toddler swings for routine sleep and every day naps. These could block a child’s airway or trigger suffocation.

Do not place infants on a sofa or armchair for sleep. Sleeping on a sofa or armchair places the child at a a lot larger danger for dying, together with SIDS.

Do not use illicit medicine and alcohol, and do not smoke throughout being pregnant or after beginning. Hold your child away from others who’re smoking and areas the place others smoke.

Do not over bundle, overdress, or cowl a child’s face or head. It will forestall your child from getting overheated, lowering the chance for SIDS.

Make certain the slats of your child’s crib are not more than 2-3/8 inches aside so the child cannot match by the slats.

Do not use free bedding or mushy objects—bumper pads, pillows, comforters, blankets—in a child’s crib or bassinet to assist forestall suffocation, strangulation, entrapment, or SIDS.

Do not use residence cardiorespiratory screens and business gadgets —wedges, positioners, and particular mattresses—to assist lower the chance for SIDS and sleep-related toddler deaths.

All the time place cribs, bassinets, and play yards in hazard-free areas —these with no dangling cords, wires, or window coverings—to cut back the chance for strangulation.