DCFS: Parents should follow ABCs of safe sleep for infants

Posted on September 30, 2016

By Greg Halbleib

CHICAGO – As much as parents may want to sleep with their infants, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is cautioning that it’s dangerous.

October is Safe Sleep Awareness Month and DCFS is promoting the ABCs of safe sleep–a baby should sleep alone, on his or her back and in a safe crib.

“It’s really very important that a child sleeps in a crib,” said Veronica Resa of DCFS. “I know we all want to bond with that child and fall asleep, and that’s a very wonderful image, but frankly that is a very dangerous sleep environment for a child so young.”

Resa said cribs should have firm mattresses with tightly-fitting sheets and no blankets or stuffed toys. She also said infants should never sleep on an adult bed or couch and never with an adult.

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