Safe Sleep Strategies for Infants from Intermountain Health

June 27, 2025 at 14:12 PM EDT

Recommendations for parents from Intermountain Health pediatricians on safe infant sleep.

(PRUnderground) June 27th, 2025

Approximately 27 infants die suddenly and unexpectedly before their first birthday in Utah — more than two babies per month. Almost all of these occur in the baby’s normal sleep environment. These sudden unexpected infant deaths take more babies lives than any other cause between the ages of one month and 12 months.

What used to be called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS is now called Sudden Unexplained Infant Death or SUID

This is based on new research that broadens the term to include infant deaths that occur during sleep, or by accidental suffocation in a sleep environment, and other infant deaths from unknown causes.

“Placing infants under 12 months on their backs to sleep has been recommended since 1994 by pediatricians to help prevent sleep-related infant deaths,” said Neal Davis, MD a pediatrician and the senior medical director of pediatrics for Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City.

Beginning in 2019, Utah began participating in a national SUID case registry to shed light on the circumstances of these sudden unexplained infant deaths and better understand the factors that may affect an infant’s risk and what safe sleep practices may help better prevent these infant deaths. 32 states and jurisdictions in the U.S. are now participating in the SUID registry.

A recent report from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services which provides Utah-specific data on sudden unexplained infant death from 2019-2023 shows:

The greatest threat to the lives of infants ages one month to one year old in Utah is sleep-related infant deaths.

The number of infants ages 0–1 who died from sleep-related deaths in Utah is almost as high as the total number of youth up to age 17 years old in Utah who died due to either firearms or by suicide.
93.5% of sleep-related infant deaths in Utah with complete case information occurred in an unsafe sleep environment.

The Utah data from the 2019-2023 sleep-related death report

75 percent of Utah infants who died were found with soft bedding in their sleep space.
66 percent of Utah infants who died were found in places not approved for infant sleep such as adult or child beds, couches, chairs, swings, bouncy chairs, car seats, strollers, or child carriers.
46 percent of Utah infants who died were sleeping with another person or animal.
32 percent of Utah infants who died were found sleeping on their stomach.

The report found that infants living in households experiencing life stressors, poverty or who were living in rural counties, were non-white or Hispanic, were born prematurely, or who were exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy or infancy were more at risk for sleep-related death.

Recommendations for parents from pediatricians on safe infant sleep

Place infants on their backs to sleep.
Place infants in their own bassinet or crib on a firm mattress for sleep, preferably in the same room as a parent for the first six months of life.
Remove any soft bedding, bumper pads or soft toys from baby’s bassinette or crib
Don’t let infants under 12 months sleep in the same bed as parents, pets or on other soft or inclined surfaces.
Don’t smoke tobacco during pregnancy or around an infant
Go to all your prenatal visits during pregnancy to better understand or reduce your risk for preterm birth or SUIDS.

For more information or to find a pregnancy provider or pediatrician, visit intermountainhealth.org.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.

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