Let’s Build a Dream Team: The Physical Therapist’s Role in Promoting Safe Sleep in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit

Infants born preterm are at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), imploring staff in newborn intensive care units (NICUs) to model and teach Safe Sleep principles. But given the multiple medical issues that premature infants face and the need for therapeutic positioning to promote optimal neurodevelopment, how do we determine when an infant is appropriate for Safe Sleep positioning? What should physical therapists (PTs) do when faced with an apparent conflict between what is “safe” and what is “therapeutic?”
In this session, we discuss real and perceived barriers to Safe Sleep for infants born preterm and explain how PTs should be involved in the promotion of Safe Sleep practices throughout an infant’s NICU stay. As members of multidisciplinary care teams, PTs can:
1. Actively participate on NICU teams writing specific, algorithm-driven policies for transitioning infants from therapeutic positioning to safe sleep;
2. Educate families about safe sleep practices throughout their infant’s NICU hospitalization, including addressing perceived barriers to safe sleep practices at home;
3. Educate staff in policy implementation, including addressing perceived barriers, and auditing compliance;
4. Guide infants through a transition from therapeutic positioning to Safe Sleep in an individualized, developmentally sensitive manner; and
5. Recommend developmentally appropriate activities for infants who are sleeping supine during their NICU stay.