SLEEP ADVICE PLEA FOR NEW PARENTS
Health and early years professionals should discuss safe baby sleeping habits with all new parents, a charity has said.
The Lullaby Trust made the recommendation as it welcomed new draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
Nice said families should learn about safe sleeping habits to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (Sids). It said all parents should be made aware of the link between cot death and falling asleep with a baby up to the age of one.
Francine Bates OBE, chief executive of The Lullaby Trust, said: "We now urge all health and early years professionals to discuss safe sleeping with all new parents as a matter of course and advise them that the safest place for a baby to sleep is in its own cot or Moses basket in their room for the first six months.
"We also hope the Department of Health will be responding positively to the guidelines and will, as matter of urgency, reinstate the free universal leaflet to all new parents about the risk of Sids which was sadly withdrawn in 2010.
"If every parent followed these guidelines we believe we could go a long way in achieving our ambition of halving the rate of Sids in this country by 2020."
The Lullaby Trust provides support for bereaved families, promotes advice on safer baby sleep and raises awareness on sudden infant death. It also runs a health-visitor led service for bereaved parents in partnership with the NHS.
The charity's information line for parents and professionals is available on 0808 802 6869, with a dedicated line for bereaved families on 0808 802 6868. Both are free to call from landlines and mobiles.
