14 Oct Putting Babies to Sleep “Right” Will Help Them (and YOU!) Sleep “Tight” 

Putting Babies to Sleep “Right” Will Help Them (and YOU!) Sleep “Tight” by Carli Mosby-Smith

When we first brought our now 3-month-old daughter home from the hospital, we had the expected first-time-parent jitters. Handling her felt like handling broken glass, we fretted over every sneeze and hiccup, and we stared at her for hours as she slept for fear she would suddenly stop breathing.   

These feelings of hypersensitivity to your little one’s well-being is normal. It makes the first few weeks of parenthood nerve-wracking, but as we became more comfortable with our abilities to care for a tiny human, the nervousness began to fade (let’s face it – it never fully goes away!) 

One thing that helped ease my worries was knowing that my husband and I were practicing safe sleep habits with our baby. The CDC reports there are nearly 3,500 sudden unexplained infant deaths (SUID) each year in the U.S. While health care experts are unsure of the exact cause, research shows that parents and caregivers that practice safe sleep habits with their infants can help reduce the risks. 

Our partners at Safe Sleep Kentucky utilize the ABCDs of safe sleep:

A – Alone. Stay close, but sleep apart. 

B – Back. On their back for every sleep. 

C – Crib. In a clean, clear crib. 

D – Danger. Be aware, not impaired. 

I continue to preach the importance of this acronym to my parent friends and anyone who cares for our little Ellie. These four rules for safe sleep may seem small and unimportant, but they make a world of difference when it comes to the safety and well-being of our little one and they help us ALL sleep a little better at night.