Safe Sleep Checklist for Babies in Australia

Swaddles and wraps need an exit plan. Keep the wrap below the shoulders, leave room for chest and hip movement, avoid overheating, and stop wrapping as soon as baby shows signs of rolling. Once rolling begins, use arms-free sleepwear so baby can move their head and body more freely.

Smoke-free sleep starts before birth and continues at home. Keep smoking and vaping away from pregnancy, baby, the sleep space, clothes, bedding, prams, cars, and visitors. If someone in the household smokes, make the sleep area a strict no-smoke zone and ask for quit support if needed.

Feeding support belongs beside the checklist, not as a judgement. Breastfeeding is one of Red Nose's safe sleep recommendations when possible, but families also need practical help with expressed milk, formula, mixed feeding, growth checks, and parent wellbeing. Ask a midwife, GP, child and family health nurse, lactation consultant, or paediatrician when feeding worries you.

Grandparents, babysitters, and visitors need the checklist too. Explain that baby goes down on their back, in the cot or bassinet, with the space clear. Ask helpers not to add pillows, blankets, toys, positioners, wedges, or extra warmth because an older rule, a photo, or a product ad made it look cosy.

Adult fatigue is part of safe sleep planning. Decide who takes over when the settling adult is drowsy, where water and snacks live, how phones charge away from the cot, and what the safer next step is if someone is close to falling asleep on a sofa, chair, or adult bed with baby.

Reflux, colds, snoring, noisy breathing, pain, fever, poor feeding, repeated vomiting, dehydration, or a baby who seems unusually sleepy needs health advice. Do not prop the mattress, incline the cot, use wedges, or let an unsafe product become the workaround for a medical concern.