Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month

October is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month. A safe sleep environment can help reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death, like suffocation. To help raise awareness about safe infant sleep, the Safe to Sleep® campaign developed the SIDS Awareness Month Toolkit, which offers guidance and resources for organizations to plan their SIDS Awareness Month activities, including:

• Sample social media posts, emails, and language to handle unsafe sleep images
• A before-you-post checklist, including guidance to caregivers for taking their #SafeSleepSnap photos
• Weekly themes
• Graphics and photos
• Flyers with and without placeholders for logos

The Safe to Sleep® campaign (also available in Spanish) provides a number of other resources (many of which can be ordered for free) to help with education and outreach efforts, including:

• An Interactive Safe Sleep Environment Tool caregivers can explore to help them learn how to create a safe sleep environment for baby in the home.
• Videos (some also in Spanish), such as Safe Sleep for Your Baby, grandparent videos, and Breastfeed Your Baby to Reduce the Risk of SIDS (with an accompanying handout that helps explain the information in the video).
• Fact sheets, such as What Does a Safe Sleep Environment Look Like? and other downloadable materials for caregivers, including handouts, brochures, and door hangers. Many of these are tailored for specific communities, including African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Spanish-speaking communities.
• The Healthy Native Babies Project toolkit and guides, which includes videos, handouts, and training for the American Indian/Alaska Native communities.

The American Academy of Pediatrics also provides information on infant sleep and recommendations for caregivers, including How to Keep Your Sleeping Baby Safe, a checklist of items for making a baby’s room safe, why "back is best" for an infant’s sleep position, and more.

Another interactive tool WIC staff can use during their visits with participants is an e-handout that depicts different sleep scenes and environments and can be used to inspire learning conversations. 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission provides information on product recalls for infant safety and other safe sleep information for parents.