For various reasons including fires and unsafe cribs, thousands of infants die while they're sleeping.
The American Red Cross offers these safety guidelines:
- Always put your baby to sleep face up.
- Use a firm mattress in a safety approved crib or bassinet. Don't use a mattress that allows you to fit two fingers between it and the sides of the crib.
- Never put your baby on a bean bag, or anything soft enough to cover the face.
- Don't place the crib within reach of cords from window blinds or curtains.
- Test your smoke detector batteries on the first day of every month. Change them twice a year.