When it comes to babies and sleep, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has made it official: Less is more.
Its new guidelines call for cribs empty of everything except the baby and the tightly sheeted mattress. No blankets. No bumpers, pillows or toys. They’re all hazardous for babies because they present a risk of suffocation, entrapment and asphyxia.
In a report for NPR, pediatrician Rachel Moon, chairwoman of the AAP Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), said, "Babies can roll into [anything] soft and suffocate against it, and babies can crawl under it and suffocate. Even the hard bumper pads are a problem because babies can scoot in and get their head wedged in between the mattress and the bumper pad and can't get out."
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