Unsafe Sleep - Adult Bed

Does this look familiar? Many well-meaning parents place their baby in an adult bed for sleep and sometimes use pillows in an effort to keep them safe from rolling off the bed.

Baby sleeping unsafely in an adult bed. Red X through image.

We know many babies die sleeping in an adult bed. In 2021, seven Gaston County babies died as a result of sleeping in an adult bed. Soft bedding, pillows, loose bedding, and other people in the bed all pose a suffocation risk for infants as shown below. 

Baby sleeping in an adult bed. Suffocation Risk - Wedged between mattress and headboard.
Baby sleeping in an adult bed. Suffocation Risk - Pressed into soft bedding.
Baby sleeping in an adult bed. Suffocation Risk - Pressed into parent's body.
Baby sleeping in an adult bed. Suffocation Risk - Between pillows and into parent's body.

Remember your ABCs and follow them every time you put your baby down to sleep.


A - Alone

Put baby in a safe sleep space ALONE for every sleep—this means no parents, no brothers or sisters, no stuffed animals, no blankets, no bumpers. Baby sleeps safest alone in their crib.

B - Back

Put baby in a safe sleep space on their BACK for naps and nighttime. Babies’ airways can easily be blocked, and they can suffocate when on their stomach. Baby sleeps safest on their back.

C - Crib

Put baby in a safe sleep space – a CRIB or play yard. Baby can become trapped in the cushions or sheets of a couch or adult bed. Baby sleeps safest on a firm mattress with a fitted sheet in a crib or play yard.