Safer Sleep for Older babies

This work is to increase protection for older babies as they go exploring in their cots. By 'older babies' we mean babies who have emerged from their first few months of life and are now starting to roll over, can change position and wriggle about in their beds.??

What is the issue for older babies?

Facts

• One in five sudden infant deaths in New Zealand are of babies aged 5 to 12 months (i.e. 13 /year)
• A covered head from getting under bedclothes, magnifies the risk and becomes more likely as babies become more mobile.
• Getting underneath or tangled in bedding is more likely when babies sleep in a different room from caregivers.

Read more about the older baby here

Response

• Baby sleep bags are increasingly used instead of blankets, to prevent babies from becoming tangled in bedding when they go exploring in their cots.
• Firmly tucked bedding, placing babies near the end of the cot, and keeping babies close by when they sleep, are also ways to reduce these risks for older babies.

'Bag to Sleep' Project

'Bag to Sleep' is about communities caring, sharing and passing to others a safe sleep solution for older babies.

We have teamed up with Louise Tanguay of The Sleep Store and you, as an agency providing services to families. Louise is coordinating the 'passing on' of baby sleep bags from her base of caring customers and we are preparing you to build a programme of education around these.

You in turn will pass the education, and the offer of a baby sleep bag, to families, and we encourage those who choose to use one to pass it, with the education, on to another baby when they no longer need it. 

This is community at its best!

Concept Testing 

As part of the project, parents were asked to provide feedback on the infant sleep bag after 2 weeks of use. We have collated this feedback from parents and from interviews with coordinators at Teen Parent Units into two reports. 

March 31 2014: Here you find the full report  and executive summary of "Safer sleep for the older baby" You may be interested in reading the recommendations that have come out of this study. 

December 14 2013: An interim report on acceptability and use of infant sleep bags