Safe to Sleep is an expansion of the original Back to Sleep campaign, which started in 1994. Back to Sleep was named for its recommendation to place healthy babies on their backs to sleep, the most effective action that parents and caregivers can take to reduce the risk of SIDS. Since that campaign started, the percentage of infants placed on their backs to sleep has increased dramatically, and the (PDF - 49 KB).
The expanded Safe to Sleep campaign builds on the success and reach of the Back to Sleep campaign. In addition to strategies for reducing the risk of SIDS, Safe to Sleep also describes actions that parents and caregivers can take to reduce the risk of other sleep-related causes of infant death, such as suffocation.
Safe to Sleep campaign collaborators include the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Reproductive Health; the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG); First Candle; and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP).
The safe sleep strategies outlined in Safe to Sleep materials and publications are based on recommendations defined by the AAP Task Force on SIDS. The Task Force released expanded guidelines in October 2011. Please visit to learn more about these recommendations.Based on the AAP Task Force recommendations, parents and caregivers can make changes to their babies’ sleep environment to make it safer and to reduce the risk for SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death. The photo on the right shows a safe infant sleep environment.
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