Skip to main content

Advertising Disclaimer »

Main menu

  • Journals
    • Pediatrics
    • Hospital Pediatrics
    • Pediatrics in Review
    • NeoReviews
    • AAP Grand Rounds
    • AAP News
  • Authors/Reviewers
    • Submit Manuscript
    • Author Guidelines
    • Reviewer Guidelines
    • Open Access
    • Editorial Policies
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Online First
    • Archive
    • Blogs
    • Topic/Program Collections
    • AAP Meeting Abstracts
  • Pediatric Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Racism and Its Effects on Pediatric Health
    • More Collections...
  • AAP Policy
  • Supplements
  • Multimedia
    • Video Abstracts
    • Pediatrics On Call Podcast
  • Subscribe
  • Alerts
  • Careers
  • Other Publications
    • American Academy of Pediatrics

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
American Academy of Pediatrics

AAP Gateway

Advanced Search

AAP Logo

  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Journals
    • Pediatrics
    • Hospital Pediatrics
    • Pediatrics in Review
    • NeoReviews
    • AAP Grand Rounds
    • AAP News
  • Authors/Reviewers
    • Submit Manuscript
    • Author Guidelines
    • Reviewer Guidelines
    • Open Access
    • Editorial Policies
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Online First
    • Archive
    • Blogs
    • Topic/Program Collections
    • AAP Meeting Abstracts
  • Pediatric Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Racism and Its Effects on Pediatric Health
    • More Collections...
  • AAP Policy
  • Supplements
  • Multimedia
    • Video Abstracts
    • Pediatrics On Call Podcast
  • Subscribe
  • Alerts
  • Careers

Discover Pediatric Collections on COVID-19 and Racism and Its Effects on Pediatric Health

American Academy of Pediatrics
From the American Academy of PediatricsPolicy Statement

SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment

TASK FORCE ON SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME
Pediatrics November 2016, 138 (5) e20162938; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2938
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • Comments
Loading

Article Figures & Data

Tables

    • View popup
    TABLE 1

    Definitions of Terms

    Bed-sharing: Parent(s) and infant sleeping together on any surface (bed, couch, chair).
    Caregivers: Throughout the document, “parents” are used, but this term is meant to indicate any infant caregivers.
    Cosleeping: This term is commonly used, but the task force finds it confusing, and it is not used in this document. When used, authors need to make clear whether they are referring to sleeping in close proximity (which does not necessarily entail bed-sharing) or bed-sharing.
    Room-sharing: Parent(s) and infant sleeping in the same room on separate surfaces.
    Sleep-related infant death: SUID that occurs during an observed or unobserved sleep period.
    Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): Cause assigned to infant deaths that cannot be explained after a thorough case investigation, including a scene investigation, autopsy, and review of the clinical history.1
    Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID), or sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI): A sudden and unexpected death, whether explained or unexplained (including SIDS), occurring during infancy.
    • View popup
    TABLE 2

    Summary of Recommendations With Strength of Recommendation

    A-level recommendations
     Back to sleep for every sleep.
     Use a firm sleep surface.
     Breastfeeding is recommended.
     Room-sharing with the infant on a separate sleep surface is recommended.
     Keep soft objects and loose bedding away from the infant’s sleep area.
     Consider offering a pacifier at naptime and bedtime.
     Avoid smoke exposure during pregnancy and after birth.
     Avoid alcohol and illicit drug use during pregnancy and after birth.
     Avoid overheating.
     Pregnant women should seek and obtain regular prenatal care.
     Infants should be immunized in accordance with AAP and CDC recommendations.
     Do not use home cardiorespiratory monitors as a strategy to reduce the risk of SIDS.
     Health care providers, staff in newborn nurseries and NICUs, and child care providers should endorse and model the SIDS risk-reduction recommendations from birth.
     Media and manufacturers should follow safe sleep guidelines in their messaging and advertising.
     Continue the “Safe to Sleep” campaign, focusing on ways to reduce the risk of all sleep-related infant deaths, including SIDS, suffocation, and other unintentional deaths. Pediatricians and other primary care providers should actively participate in this campaign.
    B-level recommendations
     Avoid the use of commercial devices that are inconsistent with safe sleep recommendations.
     Supervised, awake tummy time is recommended to facilitate development and to minimize development of positional plagiocephaly.
    C-level recommendations
     Continue research and surveillance on the risk factors, causes, and pathophysiologic mechanisms of SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths, with the ultimate goal of eliminating these deaths entirely.
     There is no evidence to recommend swaddling as a strategy to reduce the risk of SIDS.
    • The following levels are based on the Strength-of-Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT) for the assignment of letter grades to each of its recommendations (A, B, or C).2 Level A: There is good-quality patient-oriented evidence. Level B: There is inconsistent or limited-quality patient-oriented evidence. Level C: The recommendation is based on consensus, disease-oriented evidence, usual practice, expert opinion, or case series for studies of diagnosis, treatment, prevention, or screening. Note: “patient-oriented evidence” measures outcomes that matter to patients: morbidity, mortality, symptom improvement, cost reduction, and quality of life; “disease-oriented evidence” measures immediate, physiologic, or surrogate end points that may or may not reflect improvements in patient outcomes (eg, blood pressure, blood chemistry, physiologic function, pathologic findings). CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PreviousNext
Back to top

Advertising Disclaimer »

In this issue

Pediatrics
Vol. 138, Issue 5
1 Nov 2016
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
View this article with LENS
PreviousNext
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Academy of Pediatrics.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Academy of Pediatrics
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Academy of Pediatrics web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Request Permissions
Article Alerts
Log in
You will be redirected to aap.org to login or to create your account.
Or Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation Tools
SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment
TASK FORCE ON SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME
Pediatrics Nov 2016, 138 (5) e20162938; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-2938

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment
TASK FORCE ON SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME
Pediatrics Nov 2016, 138 (5) e20162938; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-2938
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Print
Download PDF
Insight Alerts
  • Table of Contents

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Background
    • Recommendations To Reduce the Risk of SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths
    • Lead Author
    • Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
    • Consultants
    • Staff
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • Comments

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Trend of unintentional suffocation death for infants under 1 year of age from 2009 to 2018 in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional study
  • Resources Recommended for the Care of Pediatric Patients in Hospitals
  • Safe Infant Sleep Practices
  • Identifying Child Abuse Fatalities During Infancy
  • Sleep-Related Infant Suffocation Deaths Attributable to Soft Bedding, Overlay, and Wedging
  • Mediators of Improved Adherence to Infant Safe Sleep Using a Mobile Health Intervention
  • Carbon dioxide rebreathing induced by crib bumpers and mesh liners using an infant manikin
  • Hammocks in the Neonatal ICU: Still a Long Way From Vacation
  • Placental Abruption and Child Mortality
  • National and State Trends in Sudden Unexpected Infant Death: 1990-2015
  • Mother-Infant Room-Sharing and Sleep Outcomes in the INSIGHT Study
  • Authors Response
  • SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Evidence Base for 2016 Updated Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment
  • SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Evidence Base for 2016 Updated Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Ethical Considerations in Pediatricians’ Use of Social Media
  • 2021 Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care
  • Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule: United States, 2021
Show more From the American Academy of Pediatrics

Similar Articles

Subjects

  • Fetus/Newborn Infant
    • Fetus/Newborn Infant
    • SIDS
  • AAP Policy Collections by Authoring Entities
    • Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
  • Current Policy
  • Journal Info
  • Editorial Board
  • Editorial Policies
  • Overview
  • Licensing Information
  • Authors/Reviewers
  • Author Guidelines
  • Submit My Manuscript
  • Open Access
  • Reviewer Guidelines
  • Librarians
  • Institutional Subscriptions
  • Usage Stats
  • Support
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Resources
  • Media Kit
  • About
  • International Access
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement
  • FAQ
  • AAP.org
  • shopAAP
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Instagram
  • Visit American Academy of Pediatrics on Facebook
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Twitter
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Youtube
  • RSS
American Academy of Pediatrics

© 2021 American Academy of Pediatrics