Leading baby sleep expert discusses the importance of safe sleep

It’s Baby Safety Month right through September. A whole month dedicated to helping educate parents and caregivers on how to keep their babies safe.

Originally known as “Expectant Mother’s Day”, over the years the celebration has grown into a full month of information, education and focus on infant safety. About 385,000 babies are born each day according to the UN, which adds up to more that 140 million a year. The world population is now projected to reach 10 billion people by 2056.

From getting babies to sleep, to managing stress, looking after a new baby can be a challenging time. For new parents, the amount of advice can be overwhelming with a wealth of information on the food that eat, what they put in their mouth, curtain cords, safety gated, bath time, and travelling.

A big thing for new parents is the heat. This summer shaping up to be the hottest on record, it is important to keep our babies cool. A child’s body heats up three to five times faster than an adult’s does. With direct sunlight causing sunburn, dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke. More seriously, overheating can also raise the risk of infant sleep death, also called SIDS.

Aston spoke to Lisa Joyce, one of the UK’s leading experts of baby sleep products to discuss the importance of safe sleep.