• Position: Always place the infant on the infant’s back to sleep, for naps and at night. Stomach sleeping, side sleeping, and propping are unsafe.

• Surface: Place the infant on a firm, flat sleep surface, such as a safety-approved crib mattress, covered by a fitted sheet. The surface should not be at an angle or on an incline.

• Bedding: Keep soft objects, pillows, bumper guards, stuffed toys, stuffed animals, loose blankets, nonfitted sheets, mattress toppers, fur-like materials, quilts, comforters, and weighted blankets, swaddles, or objects out of the infant’s sleep area.

• No smoking:

• Location: Set up the infant’s sleep area close to but separate from the sleep area of the parents/caregivers and other children. It is recommended that infants sleep in the parents'/caregivers' room close to the parents'/caregivers' bed but on a separate surface designed for infants, ideally for at least the first 6 months.

• Pacifiers: Consider giving the infant a clean, dry pacifier when placing the infant down for every sleep. For infants who are breastfeeding, wait to give a pacifier until breastfeeding is well established.

• Temperature: Do not let the infant become too hot or too cold during sleep. Avoid overwrapping the infant or covering the head. Keep the infant warm with layers of clothing instead of with blankets and other coverings. Wearable blankets can also be used. 

To help prevent flat spots from developing on the infant's head, infants should spend some time on their tummy when they are awake and someone is watching them (tummy time). Parents/caregivers can begin short periods of tummy time soon after hospital discharge. Tummy time should be increased regularly to at least 15 to 30 minutes a day by the time the infant is 7 weeks old.

To help make the infant's head round, parents/caregivers should change the direction that the infant lies in while in the crib each week and avoid leaving the infant for too long in car seats, carriers, and bouncers.

Home monitors and products that claim to prevent sudden infant death syndrome do not seem helpful.