Safe sleep rules that protect against SIDS, how much crying is normal, how to soothe your baby and what to expect about sleep.
Safe sleep and SIDS
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the unexplained death of a healthy baby under one during sleep. Main risks: tummy sleeping, overheating, cigarette smoke. Since parents put babies on their backs, cases in Germany fell by more than 80%; breastfed babies have about half the risk (kindergesundheit-info).
- Always on the back to sleep, never on the tummy or side.
- Firm mattress, no pillow, no sheepskin, no padding or bumpers.
- A baby sleeping bag instead of a duvet, so your baby cannot slip under the covers.
- Own cot in the parents' bedroom, for example a bedside crib.
- No overheating: no hat or mittens indoors. Feel the neck or between the shoulder blades; the skin should be warm, not sweaty. Air the room briefly and regularly.
- Smoke-free during pregnancy and after birth, at home and in the car.
- No necklaces (including amber teething necklaces) and no long dummy chains.
- Closeness and breastfeeding: both are good for your baby.
Tummy time while awake: back sleeping is safe, but babies also need tummy time while awake and watched: a few minutes several times a day strengthens neck and shoulders and helps prevent a flat head. If the head shape worries you, ask your Kinderarzt.
Crying: what is normal, when to get help
- Normal
- 2–3 hours a day, often in the early evening
- Usually peaks around week 6
- It is how babies show hunger, tiredness, discomfort or overstimulation
- See your Kinderarzt
- Crying longer, louder or more high-pitched than usual
- Your baby seems ill
- Rule of 3: more than 3 hours a day, on more than 3 days a week, for more than 3 weeks (elternsein.info)
- The crying frightens you or you feel you cannot cope
- Emergency
- Go to the nearest children's emergency department
Your Kinderarzt can rule out illness and connect you with local help: Frühe Hilfen, a crying clinic (Schreiambulanz) or counselling.
What can help
- Check the basics: stay as calm as you can; food, nappy, sleep, closeness.
- Hold and rock: carry or walk with your baby; talk, sing or hum quietly.
- Sucking and touch: offer a finger or dummy; gently massage the tummy or back.
- Less stimulation: reduce noise; keep a regular day with simple rituals.
- Take a break: hand over to your partner, family or friends, or put your baby down safely in the cot (kindergesundheit-info).
- Wind drops, globuli: no proven benefit. Change feeding only if a doctor confirms an intolerance.
Never shake a baby. Shaking can cause severe or fatal brain injury (elternsein.info).
Sleep rhythm
- Day and night: newborns have no rhythm yet; it usually gets more regular after about 6 weeks.
- Waking at night: normal and not always hunger; sleeping through can take years.
- Sleep per day: roughly 14 hours a day at 6 months and at 1 year, 13 at 2 years, with big differences (kindergesundheit-info).
- Bedtime ritual: calm and always the same: singing, a story, rocking.
- Signs of tiredness: put your baby down when you notice them.
- Bedroom: cool, quiet and dark.
- At night: try your voice and stroking before picking your baby up.
Sources
Official German sources, most of them in German.