SIDS Awareness Month Toolkit

October is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month.

A mother (right) holds a baby in her arms while looking over an educational handout with another individual (left).In October and beyond, infant caregivers and service/healthcare providers can join Safe to Sleep® and its partners to encourage safe infant sleep and help raise awareness about ways to reduce the risk of SIDS.

Despite decreases in rates of SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths, more than one-third of sudden unexpected infant deaths that occur in the United States each year are from SIDS.1 Research also shows that unsafe sleep areas, such as those that include non-fitted sheets, blankets, or stuffed toys, remain a leading cause of infant death.2

How to Use This Toolkit

Use this toolkit to:

Adjust this toolkit’s resources and messages to meet your organization’s tone, communication needs, and goals for SIDS Awareness Month.

Related National Observances

Other related national observances include:

Past SIDS Awareness Month Activities

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Sudden unexpected infant death and sudden infant death syndrome: Data and statistics. Retrieved June 1, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/sids/data.htm.
  2. Shapiro-Mendoza, C. K., Camperlengo, L., Ludvigsen, R., Cottengim, C., Anderson, R. N., Andrew, T., et al. (2014). Classification system for the Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Case Registry and its application. Pediatrics, 134(1), e210–e219. Retrieved May 3, 2021, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24913798/.