🧠 Essential reflexes: sleep, shaking & outdoors

Prepare together

• Save 911, your pediatric team's number and your nearest emergency department. Plan backup transport in case emergency access is delayed.
• Book professional infant and child first-aid training.

Safety habits

1. 1. Make every baby sleep safer

   Put baby on their back on a flat, firm mattress in their own clear crib or bassinet. Share your room for at least the first six months, not your bed. Keep pillows, blankets, toys and bumpers out. Sofas and armchairs are not safe sleep spaces.

2. 2. Avoid overheating and smoke

   Choose light clothing suited to the actual room conditions; air-conditioning to a fixed cold temperature is not necessary. Keep baby's head uncovered and the home smoke-free. Tummy time is only for awake, supervised play.

3. 3. Never shake a baby

   If crying overwhelms you, put baby safely on their back in their crib and step away briefly to regain control. Ask a trusted adult to take over. Never shake or hit a baby; seek urgent medical help if shaking may have occurred.

4. 4. Protect fingers and supervise pets

   Secure doors against slamming and use firmly attached corner guards where useful. Actively supervise young children around pets, however familiar the animal is.

5. 5. Plan safer car journeys

   Use an approved child restraint suitable for your child's size, fitted according to its instructions; keep babies rear-facing within the seat's limits. Ask a reputable local fitter about compatibility. Load and unload on the side away from traffic, and never leave a child alone in a vehicle.

Same topic

• 🧸 Babyproofing the house (when baby goes mobile)
• 🍬 Preventing choking and swallowing hazards
• 🛁 Water safety and drowning prevention
• 🪜 Preventing falls at home

Read next

• 😴 Safe sleep for baby: reducing SIDS risk
• 😭 Getting through evening crying spells
• 🚗 Installing a car seat correctly
• 🚨 Getting trained in infant & child first aid