#Sleepyhead baby update#
#Sleepyhead baby portable#

What you should do: Avoid pods or nests that have a soft mattress due to the risk of SIDS or suffocation. Memory foam mattresses are advised against. In the US, a firm mattress is defined as maintaining its shape when your baby is placed on it. Meanwhile, the study that showed the 5 times risk defined a soft sleep surface as one that let a baby’s head sink 25mm (1 inch) or more. The Lullaby Trust states that a soft mattress is one that lets your baby’s head sink in further than a few millimetres. What's the definition of a non-firm (ie soft) mattress? Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find a consensus of opinion on this. Risk 2: The Lullaby Trust states that “soft surfaces can make it harder for babies to lose body heat and maintain a safe temperature”.Įvidence: This is not so clear-cut as overheating has been linked with SIDS when heavy bedding has been used or the room temperature has been too high, rather than a soft mattress. One study found a soft mattress increased SIDS risk by 5 times. Risk 1: Soft mattresses may increase the risk of SIDS or suffocation, particularly if your baby rolls over on to their front (or is placed to sleep on their front).Įvidence: There’s strong evidence that a soft mattress increases the risk of SIDS or suffocation, most significantly if a baby sleeps on their front or rolls onto their front. How do pods and nests not comply? Some, but not all, have soft mattresses – eg, the base part that your baby sleeps on. We’ve looked at each of these and the research behind them. It’s this rule that it warns sleeping pods and nests don’t meet. To make its advice as clear as possible, The Lullaby Trust has created a simple rule: babies should sleep on a firm, completely flat, waterproof surface.

#Sleepyhead baby update#

We will update as soon as we hear of any incidents involving these products.

#Sleepyhead baby portable#

We did find one case of a baby suffocation death in Australia in 2016 linked to a portable sleeping space - but this was a padded portable crib rather than a pod or nest. Medical reports suggested the deaths were linked to bed sharing rather than the nest itself. We found 7 non-UK cases where a baby had died while co-sleeping in their parents' bed when sleeping in a pod or nest. 'Some products marketed for infant sleep, such as hammocks and nests or pods, are not firm and flat and so are not recommended for use by The Lullaby Trust, although their relationship to SIDS has not yet been established'Īs of 2020, we haven’t been able to find any evidence of reported cases across the world of babies’ deaths specifically involving a sleeping pod or nest used outside of a parent's bed. In its latest 2019 report, The Lullaby Trust states: