Safe sleep basics for a new baby
Babies sleep on their backs, for every nap and every night, until they are 1 year old. They sleep alone in their own space — a crib, bassinet or portable play yard with a firm, flat, level surface and nothing in it but a fitted sheet — in the same room as you for at least the first 6 months.
That is most of it. The rest is the detail of how to make an ordinary house match those two sentences.
Around this age
The CDC reports that about 3,400 babies in the United States died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2024, and that these deaths often happen during sleep or in a baby’s sleep area. The recommendations below are the 2022 AAP policy that the CDC supports, and the NICHD’s Safe to Sleep campaign carries the same message.
On the back, every time. The NICHD’s instruction covers every baby, including those born preterm and those with reflux: on their backs to sleep until they are 1 year old. The AAP says the same for all naps and at night. Side sleeping is not a safe alternative.
A firm, flat, level surface. Safe to Sleep defines each word: firm means it returns to its original shape quickly when pressed, flat means like a table rather than a hammock, and level means not at an angle or an incline. The AAP describes a firm surface as one that does not indent when your baby is lying on it.
Their own space, your room. Room sharing means a baby sleeps in the same room as the adults, near the bed but not in it. The AAP puts it at the first 6 months at least. The NICHD notes that room sharing without bed sharing reduces the risk of SIDS by as much as 50% compared with sharing an adult bed or sleeping in a separate room, and that it also lowers the risk of suffocation, strangulation and entrapment.
Nothing else in there. Soft or squishy objects stay out of the sleep area: pillows, stuffed toys, crib bumpers, quilts, comforters and loose blankets. The NICHD links crib bumpers and any bedding other than a fitted sheet to serious injuries and deaths. Keep your baby’s head and face uncovered, and avoid letting them get too hot.
What families usually do
Move a sleeping baby. Car seats, strollers, swings, carriers and slings are not sleep surfaces. The AAP’s advice is that if your baby falls asleep in one, move them to a firm sleep surface on their back as soon as you can. In practice this means going into the house and doing it, even when the baby is finally quiet.
Offer a pacifier. The NICHD suggests one for naps and at night once feeding is going well. If the pacifier falls out after a baby is asleep, there is no need to put it back.
Stop swaddling at the first sign of rolling. The AAP is specific: when your baby looks like they are trying to roll over, swaddling stops. Sleep sacks and wearable blankets are what most families move to.
Keep the air clear. Staying smoke- and vape-free during pregnancy and keeping your baby’s surroundings smoke- and vape-free is on both the NICHD and AAP lists, and it is one of the larger levers there is.
Two more things that count. Breastfeeding, or feeding expressed breast milk, is part of the AAP recommendation, ideally for at least the first 6 months where it is possible. And tummy time — awake, on the floor, with someone watching — is on both lists, because backs are for sleeping and fronts are for playing.
Tell everyone who puts your baby down. Grandparents, babysitters, a partner on the night shift: the advice has changed several times in one generation, and the sofa nap and the extra blanket are the two things people reach for without thinking.
Sources
- Ways to Reduce Baby’s Risk — Safe to Sleep, NICHD (NIH)
- Safe Sleep Environment for Baby — Safe to Sleep, NICHD (NIH)
- How to Keep Your Sleeping Baby Safe: AAP Policy Explained — HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- About SUID and SIDS — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This is educational information from public sources, not a replacement for advice from your child’s healthcare professional.
In Withya, the safe sleep guide sits under Guides for the months it applies to, where anyone on your child’s profile can read the same thing you did.
