The preschoolers helping with safe sleep for babies

Every year, 40 to 50 New Zealand babies die from Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI).

Preschoolers educated about safe sleep through doll-play could help combat SUDI now and in the future, says Invercargill nurse Sharon Ayto.

Sharon says she got the idea while watching a couple of little girls place blankets over their dolls on the sidelines of a wahakura (Māori baby basket) workshop in 2015.

"It was like, hang on a minute, we're missing a really great opportunity here to teach preschoolers how to put their babies to bed safely."

Teaching preschoolers about safe sleep for babies via doll-play is an opportunity to guide 'tomorrow's parents', says Sharon, who is both a public health nurse and the Southern DHB's Child Youth Mortality Coordinator.

When her idea won the 2015 Southern Innovation Challenge, she put the $10,000 prize money towards producing an educational video that demonstrates to early childhood teachers and support staff how to model safe sleep practices to young children.

Since research confirmed in the 1990s that it's safest for babies to sleep on their backs, rates of SUDI have dropped to less than a quarter of what they were, Sharon says.

We now know the best way for a baby to sleep is in a safe place on their backs with their face up and their face clear, she says.

Sometimes SUDI occurs while a baby is with someone other than their usual caregiver.

If a preschooler who'd been educated about safe sleep saw someone not following the recommended practices, they might well speak up, Sharon says.

"They might say to Auntie or whoever 'No, baby sleeps on his back'. An adult might hesitate to correct someone, but preschoolers have no filter and just say what they're thinking."

"The aim is that as they go on and have their own children, they'll have it in the back of their minds. In the interim, they can help make sure us adults are doing the right thing."

Sharon Ayto will give a presentation on safe sleep through doll-play at an international conference in Glasgow in June.