A systematic evaluation and comparison of the consistency of infant safer sleep messaging in Australia

Sarah P Kruse; Levita D’Souza; Jeanine Young; Hannah G G Tuncer

doi:10.3389/fcomm.2025.1527164

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A systematic evaluation and comparison of the consistency of infant safer sleep messaging in Australia

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

A systematic evaluation and comparison of the consistency of infant safer sleep messaging in Australia

Sarah P Kruse, Levita D’Souza, Jeanine Young and Hannah G G Tuncer

Frontiers in Communication, Vol.10, pp.1-21

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1527164

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Abstract

infant safer sleep

co-sleeping

bed-sharing

SIDS

SUDI (suden unexpected death in infancy)

shared sleep

To reduce the occurrence of sudden infant death, organisations have created recommendations about infant safe sleep and shared sleep. With the considerable volume of documents, consistency in messaging is paramount to reduce caregiver confusion and to reduce engagement in practices deemed to be unsafe for their infant. This review aimed to systematically compare recommendations on infant safer sleep, including shared sleep, in Australia. Documents were identified by researchers with subject matter expertise, and through a systematic webpage search. A total of n=32 eligible documents were included from n=26 organisations. If an organisation had separate documents for shared sleeping, both documents were included and reviewed together. Consistency of recommendations were evaluated against the recommendations within the International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death's (ISPID)'s guidelines, while the approach taken to discuss shared sleep Risk Minimisation vs. Risk Elimination was also evaluated using a coding framework. No organisation's document/s contradicted ISPID's recommendations, although there was variation in the quantity of recommendations included. The approaches taken towards shared sleep by organisations were diverse between Risk Elimination and Risk Minimisation. Strategies to engage in safer shared sleep were provided by less than half of the organisations, as was the acknowledgement of familial, cultural, or logistical preferences for shared sleep, or that shared sleep may also occur unintentionally. Most organisations recommended that infants be breastfed but did not discuss the bidirectional link between breastfeeding and shared sleeping. Organisations need to provide consistent messaging on infant safer sleep to avoid public confusion. The adoption of a Risk Minimisation approach with clearer messaging provides considerations for informed choice, and strategies for safer shared sleeping; intentional or unintentional.

Details

Title: A systematic evaluation and comparison of the consistency of infant safer sleep messaging in Australia
Authors: Sarah P Kruse (Corresponding Author) - Monash University
Levita D’Souza - Monash University
Jeanine Young - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nursing
Hannah G G Tuncer - Monash University
Publication details: Frontiers in Communication, Vol.10, pp.1-21
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2025.1527164
ISSN: 2297-900X
Copyright note: © 2025 Kruse, D'Souza, Young and Tuncer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Data Availability: The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because the format of the data (Systematic Review) has no quantitative data analysis. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to sarah.kruse@monash.edu.
Grant note: Sarah Kruse is a recipient of a Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship provided by the Australian Government to support both domestic and international students undertaking Research Doctorate and Research Masters degrees.
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Nursing
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991104244802621
Output Type: Journal article

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