Safe Sleep Campaign

Baby Shares Your Room, Not Your Bed

Room Sharing

Instead of bed sharing, health care providers recommend room sharing—keeping baby’s sleep area separate from your sleep area in the same room where you sleep. Room sharing is known to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death. 

If you bring your baby into your bed to breastfeed, make sure to put him or her back into a separate sleep area in your room when finished.Woman sleeping in bed next to baby’s crib. Baby sleeps in own crib.

Parents Placing Baby into a Safe Sleep Environment

Baby in own crib. Mom and Dad standing next to crib smiling.This photo shows parents placing their baby in a safe sleep environment, in which the risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes of infant death are low. 

Baby is sleeping on his/her back on a firm sleep surface; and there are no crib bumpers, pillows, blankets, loose bedding, or toys are in the sleep area.

More Safe Sleep Information

Baby sleeping on back has clear airway. Baby sleeping on stomach has obstructed airway.


4 Tips for Safe Sleep

Safer Sleep Task Force

Safe Sleep Task Force group members standing and smiling together

Back row: Dea Dorsey, FCHD; Dr. Barbara Brookmyer, FCHD, Lynn Davis, Child Advocacy Center; Peter Brehm, The Frederick Center; Marianne Hiles, FMH

Front row: Nancy Boyd, Asian American Center of Frederick; Jan Sparks, FCHD, Allison Young, FCHD

Not pictured: Miriam Dobson, FCHD; Rissah Watkins, FCHD; Martha Gurzick, FMH; Pam Holtzinger, FMH; Lynn Cavagnaro, FMH; Jenifer Waters, FCPS; Katharine Long, Office of Child Care