Safe Infant Sleep

Letters

to the Editor OCTOBER

| NOVEMBER

2012

Global Cancer Care Nitrous Oxide Teen Health

Sleep t n a f n I e f a S Endorsing

awhonn.org

http://nwh.

Safe Infant Sleep H

itchcock’s (2012) “call to action” for endorsing safe infant sleep provides nurses, parents and the media with excellent and detailed information regarding infants and safe sleep. There is another scenario that is worth mentioning. What if an infant is sleeping at a babysitter’s or relative’s home? The baby’s sleeping habits and cycles may change. In particular, babies sleeping at a friend’s or family member’s home may have a greater chance of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than babies sleeping in their own home (Vennemann, Brinkmann, & Mitchel, 2009). This could be due to alteration in their regular sleep schedule or to being exposed to a more dangerous

environment if an infant had to sleep in a place not meant for babies. So it behooves everyone who is around a baby to be aware of safe sleep practices.

Stephanie Hallinan, Student Utica, NY References Hitchcock, S. (2012). Endorsing safe infant sleep: A call to action. Nursing For Women’s Health, 16(5), 388–396. Doi: 10.1111/j.1751-486x.2012.01762.x Vennemann, M., Brinkmann, B., & Mitchel, E. (2009). Sleep environment risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome: The German sudden infant death syndrome study. Pediatrics, 123(4), 1162–1170. Doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-0505

DOI: 10.1111/1751-486X.12015 http://nwh.awhonn.org

© 2013, AWHONN

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