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Vulnerabilities of babies and children

Safer sleeping

On this page:

    Key risks

    The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) has identified key risk factors associated with co-sleeping if you are a parent or carer who:

    • is a smoker, even if they never smoke in bed or in the home
    • has been drinking alcohol
    • has taken medication or drugs that make them drowsy
    • feels very tired;

    or if your baby:

    • was low birth weight (less than 2.5kgs or 5.5 lbs)
    • was premature (born before 37 weeks gestation).

    Please note:
    Co-sleeping describes a baby sharing their parent's bed, or sleeping with a parent on a sofa or chair. A parent is anyone caring for the baby.

    FSID has stated that parents and carers should be advised never to sleep with a baby on a sofa or in an armchair.

    Don’t forget, accidents can happen too; you might roll over in your sleep and suffocate your baby, or your baby could get caught between the wall and the bed, or could roll out of your bed and be injured.

    The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib, or cot, in a room with you, for the first six months.

    Lullaby Trust

    Lullaby Trust provides specialist support for bereaved families, promotes expert advice on safer baby sleep, and raises awareness on sudden infant death. They have an information line for parents and professionals, which is free to call from landlines and mobiles:

    Call the Lullaby Trust information line on 0808 8026869

    Lullaby Trust (external website)

    Safer sleep

    Lullaby Trust’s safer sleep advice gives simple steps for how you can sleep your baby to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), commonly known as cot death. Their website is full of helpful tips and advice for all sleep periods, not just at night:

    Lullaby Trust's safer sleeping advice (external website).

    Alternatively you can watch the safer sleep for babies video (external website).

    Baby check app

    Lullaby Trust’s baby check app will help a parent or carer decide whether a baby needs a doctor. It contains 19 simple checks which test for different symptoms or signs of illness. Each check has a score - the higher the score, when added together, the sicker the baby is likely to be.

    Baby check app

    Baby check booklet (external PDF)

    Bereavement support and safer sleeping

    Lullaby Trust has a dedicated phone line for bereaved families, which is free to call from landlines and mobiles:

    Call the Lullaby Trust’s dedicated bereavement helpline on 0808 802 6868
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