Where might my baby sleep?
Where might my baby sleep?
A discussion tool for parent education about infant sleep location
In moving away from simple ‘one size fits all’ approaches to SIDS-prevention, NICE (2014) recommends that practitioners discuss infant sleep location with parents and support them in making informed choices that work for their family. The Where Might My Baby Sleep? project was conducted in collaboration with NHS Blackpool and NHS Lancashire to develop a tool that would facilitate such conversations. The leaflet-based tool is designed to inform mothers about the risks and benefits associated with different infant sleep locations, with a specific focus on bed and sofa sharing, and to help mothers assess their own individual level of risk when considering bed-sharing with their babies. In the centre of the leaflet is a decision tree that practitioners can use to help parents understand who should avoid bed-sharing and when.
The article by Russell et al (2015) explains how the project was conducted and provides the results of the evaluation. The ‘Where Might My Baby Sleep?’ discussion tool may be downloaded and used freely, or adapted to suit your local context. Please do remember to acknowledge the original source in any new documents you may produce.