Preventing strangulation and suffocation

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Your child

• Young babies are unable to spit a dummy out if they have trouble breathing. If you use anything to keep the dummy in your baby’s mouth when he wants it out, you could be putting your baby at risk of suffocation.
• If you use a ribbon, string or chain to attach a dummy to your baby, it can strangle him. It is better to have to buy another dummy than to risk strangulation.
• Bottles propped and left in a newborn's mouth are dangerous – he doesn't have the ability to spit the bottle out if he can't breathe. If something needs your attention in the middle of a feed, ask for help or delay what needs doing until after the feed. If you have to answer the phone or the door, take the bottle with you.
• Put your baby in a safe sleep position – lying down to sleep on his back, tucked firmly into his bedding, so he can't smother himself – and follow safe practices if your baby is sharing your bed. SIDS has been strongly linked to sleep position, but there are simple precautions you can take to significantly reduce the risk.
• Leaving your baby to sleep on a couch, waterbed, beanbag, sheepskin rug or any other soft cushiony surface could allow him to roll over and suffocate. The firmer the surface, the less likely a baby will suffocate on it.
• Some prams and strollers can fold slightly, even when a baby is in them – if you leave your baby unattended in a pram or stroller that happens to fold down while you are not looking, his head might get covered.
• Clothes with ribbons, strings or ties around the neck could strangle your child. Remember to take off your baby’s bib or clothing with a hood before he goes to bed.
• Strap your baby firmly into a bouncinette or car restraint to prevent injuries such as slipping down and getting straps tangled around his neck. Read more about car restraints.

Child's room

• Use a cot with narrow vertical bars – between 50 mm and 85 mm as set by Australian Standards – so his head doesn't get jammed in the bars. It should also have a firm-fitting mattress with no more than 25 mm between the mattress and the sides of the cot, so baby can't get his face stuck between the mattress and sides.
• Keep cots away from blinds and curtains – children can strangle themselves on curtain or blind cords.
• Keep stuffed toys, cushions and piles of clothes out of cots and prams to keep baby safe from suffocation.
• Keep hanging mobiles out of baby’s reach so he can't strangle himself with them.
• Use a toy box with a detachable lid and make sure the box has airholes in case your child climbs in.

Around the house

• Tie plastic bags in knots after you’ve emptied them and store them out of the way - your child will be much less likely to unknot a bag and put it over his head. Dispose of all plastic wrapping as soon as possible. Make sure all plastic is removed from cot and bassinette mattresses.
• Keep all cords out of reach of toddlers and move chairs away from blinds so toddlers can’t climb up to reach cords – it's quite easy for a small child to hang himself on a blind cord. You can fit blinds without cords, and curtains with rods instead of cords. If you have blinds with cords, wrap the cords in a cleat (available from hardware stores) attached to the wall at least 1600 mm above floor level. Wrap any remaining curtain cord around the cleat.
• Choose foil balloons (rubber balloons pop more easily and can be inhaled) with short ribbons no longer than 30 cm (any longer and the ribbon could wrap around your child's neck).
• Put child-resistant locks on any airtight boxes a child could climb into, including freezers. If a child closes himself in an airtight box he could suffocate without you knowing.

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