How to avoid the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) during daytime naps

The BabyCentre editorial team

Our panel of health writers.

The same advice for safe sleeping during the night applies during the day. Your baby should always sleep on her back, and she should sleep in the same room as you until she is six months old.

If it feels like your baby’s daytime naps are the only moments you have to yourself or to spend with your toddler, following this advice may seem difficult.

One study into SIDS found that 54 out of the 325 babies who died did so during the daytime. Of these, 75 per cent had been sleeping in a room without an adult in it, and 61 per cent had been placed on their side or tummy to sleep. Babies who had been sleeping alone when they died were more than twice as likely to be found with bedding over their head than the watched-over babies.

It's hard to tell if it was the babies’ sleeping position that was the problem, or the fact that they were not being watched. But it does show that putting your baby to sleep on her back in the same room as you, for all her sleeps, will reduce the risk of SIDS.

You could put your baby down to sleep in a Moses basket or pram and take it with you from room to room. Babies can sleep through a lot and she may even be soothed by the noise of the washing machine or vacuum cleaner.

Your baby may also benefit from the visual stimulation of being moved around to wherever the action is. She will soon sleep through the extra noise, even if she is used to peace and quiet.

As the risk of SIDS is at its highest during your baby’s first six months, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a long time to be watchful. If you also have a toddler, your baby can nap in her pram or Moses basket while you play with your toddler in the same room. Or if you have a travel cot you could put that in your living room for her to sleep in for a short spell.

When you put your baby down for a nap during the day you should lay your baby on her back, with her feet at the foot of her cot or crib. This is to prevent her from wriggling down under her bedding.

You can also reduce the risk of SIDS by making sure that your baby doesn't get too hot. Keep her the room she is sleeping in at a comfortable temperature of between 16 degrees C and 20 degrees C.

It goes without saying that you should never smoke near your baby, or expose her to a smoky environment, as this increases the risk of SIDS.

If you're still concerned about SIDS, the website for the Lullaby Trust has more information, or ask your doctor or health visitor for advice.

Last reviewed: March 2012

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That's all sound advice, however it is impossible for us unfortunately. My baby has eczema and if I put her on her back her hands will be free to scratch, plus she'll be able to rub her arms on the sheet! This can make her skin bleed in just one nap! Putting her on her front to sleep makes it much more difficult for her to do this and she'd have to turn and properly wake up, at which point I would have seen her on the monitor and gone to sooth her. I suspect the position in which babies are placed is not as important as whether they are being watched or not.

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