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www.FredericksburgParent.NET 13 Sponsored Material Set Up for Safe Sleep at Home Sleep deprivation is one of the hardest parts of bringing home a newborn. So a big part of setting up a safe sleep environment at home is anticipating those times when you may be prone to fall asleep while feeding an infant. Lamprinakos remembers how hard it was as a new mother to not fall asleep while breastfeeding. In the hospital, she sees this ten- dency frequently with new mothers. But it's important not to give into the temptation to fall asleep while feeding an infant, even "just this once." If you feel you are going to fall asleep, she said, get up and put the baby down in the crib, or have your partner or another caregiver take the baby so that you can rest. "It's important to have somebody helping you at home, so that if you do get tired, they recognize that, and can help you," Lamprinakos said. "It takes a village," Walker said of infant care, and that's why Mary Washington Healthcare emphasizes to parents that anybody who is going to be helping to care for their baby—grandparents, baby- sitters, friends or anybody else—needs to have the same informa- tion about safe infant sleep that Mary Washington Healthcare sends parents home with. "It really has to be a commitment by every caregiver," Walker said. To learn more about Mary Washington Healthcare's commitment to safe infant sleep, visit safesleep.mwhc.com. "It's important to have sombody helping you at home..." Do's and Don't's of Safe Infant Sleep These guidelines apply to all sleep situations, including night- time sleep and naps during the day. DO: • Place babies down to sleep on their backs. • Place babies on a firm crib mattress, covered only by a tight fitted sheet. • Breastfeed your baby, and offer a pacifier after breastfeeding is well established. • Use a breathable, fitted blanket to swaddle your baby, such as the Halo SleepSack, which is distributed to all new parents who give birth at Mary Washington Hospital or Stafford Hospital. • Create a safe sleeping space by setting up a crib or bassinet in the room where you sleep, to make nighttime care easy without having baby in your bed. • Make sure everyone who cares for your baby knows how to reduce the risk of sleep-related death or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) by following these important guidelines DON'T: • Bring an infant into your bed to sleep. • Place stuffed animals, crib bumpers or other fluffy décor in a crib or bassinet where your baby will sleep. These items pose a suffocation risk. • Use sleep positioners, wedges or pillows in the crib or bas- sinet to prop up your infant. • Allow babies to sleep wearing hats, as they can pull them down over their faces, making breathing more difficult. • Allow babies to sleep in swings, car seats and other carriers or play equipment. Babies should only sleep on a firm, flat mattress. • Allow babies to sleep with pacifiers that have soft stuffed animals attached should not be with a baby during sleep. • Smoke around your baby, or inside a room where he or she will be sleeping. To learn more about safe infant sleep, visit safesleepacademy.org. Terri Lamprinakos, BSN, RN, NE-BC, Nurse Manager for Labor, Delivery, Recovery, Postpartum & NICU at Stafford Hospital. RiDonna Walker, MSN, RNC-MNN, Assistant Nurse Manager for Mother Baby and Pediatrics at Mary Washington Hospital.