Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 17;13(1):875.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-28008-1.

Implementation of safe infant sleep recommendations during night-time sleep in the first year of life in a German birth cohort

Vincent D Gaertner  1   2 , Sara Fill Malfertheiner  3 , Janina Postpischil  1 , Susanne Brandstetter  4   5 , Birgit Seelbach-Göbel  3 , Christian Apfelbacher  4   6 , Michael Melter  5 , Michael Kabesch  1   4 ; KUNO-Kids study group; Sebastian Kerzel  7
Collaborators, Affiliations

Implementation of safe infant sleep recommendations during night-time sleep in the first year of life in a German birth cohort

Vincent D Gaertner et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The aim of our study was to assess the extent to which families followed recommendations, issued by the German society for sleep medicine, for the prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) during night-time sleep. Analyzing longitudinal data from a birth cohort located at the University Children's Hospital Regensburg in Bavaria (Germany), we determined data regarding the infant's sleep location, sleep settings and body position, and exposure to environmental factors. Data were collected in a structured interview after birth and by standardized questionnaires at 4 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year of life, respectively. The majority of 1,400 surveyed infants (94% at 4 weeks) were reported to sleep in the parents' sleeping room during the first months of life. While the most common furniture was a bedside sleeper (used by 48%), we also observed a considerable proportion of families who regularly practiced bed-sharing and, for 16% of infants, the parents' bed was the default sleeping place. 12% of infants were still put regularly in the prone position. The vast majority (87%) of the infants were breastfed at some timepoint and 17% lived in a household with one or more smokers. Although most parents implemented many SIDS recommendations, our analysis illustrates a considerable gap between recommendations and intentions after birth on the one hand and actual implementation in real life on the other. The number-one deviation from the current SIDS guidelines during night-time sleep was bed-sharing with an adult.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CA receives consultancy fees from the European Foundation for the care of the newborn infant (EFCNI). All other authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Default sleep location (“In which room does your child usually sleep at night?”).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Standard sleeping furniture (“What does your child usually sleep in at night?).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Frequency of bed-sharing (“How often does your infant co-sleep with an adult in one bed at the same time?”).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Frequency of prone positioning for sleeping (“How often do you put your baby in the prone position ("face-down") for sleeping?”).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Loose objects in the infant’s bed (“Which of the following objects do you give the infant into the bed for sleeping?”).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Moon, R.Y., Task force on sudden infant death S. SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths: evidence base for 2016 updated recommendations for a safe infant sleeping environment. Pediatrics.138(5) (2016). - PubMed
    1. Moon RY, Horne RS, Hauck FR. Sudden infant death syndrome. Lancet. 2007;370(9598):1578–1587. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61662-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Safe to Sleep campaign [Internet]. [cited 11.01.2022]. Available from: https://safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov/.
    1. Sudden infant death syndrome, S1-Guideline, DGSM (German Society for Sleep Medicine) [Internet]. 2018 [cited 10.01.2022]. Available from: https://www.dgsm.de/gesellschaft/die-dgsm/netzwerke-und-arbeitsgruppen/p....
    1. Poets, C.F., Die Mitglieder der AGPdD. Leitlinie B20 „Plötzlicher Säuglingstod“. Somnologie - Schlafforschung und Schlafmedizin.16(3), 202–203 (2012).

Publication types