September is Baby Safety Month.

A good time to remind parents of infants of a warning issued a couple of years ago by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Fatality Review Unit.

State officials urged parents not to place infants in bed with them.

“As parents, it is very tempting to want to place your infant in your bed so you can comfort them and feel ‘safe’ while they sleep,” according to a GBI statement. “Georgia Child Fatality Review urges parents to resist this temptation. Regardless of warnings, (in 2018) more than 100 infants died in Georgia as a result of co-sleeping with their parents or being placed in other unsafe sleep environments.”

A sleeping parent can roll over on a small infant suffocating the baby. The parent has no idea until waking up, according to past incident reports.

In the past, medical officials have been asked to urge their patients not to place babies in bed with them.

They asked doctors to share the ABC approach with parents of infants.

The ABCs of Safe Sleeping: “Alone on their Backs in a safe Crib.”

The GBI Child Fatality Review Unit breaks down the ABCs:

• Alone: “Babies should sleep alone in their own sleep space, close but separate from their caregiver.”

• Back: “Babies should be placed on their backs to sleep. Every sleep. Every nap. Every time.”

• Crib: “Babies should sleep in a crib or bassinet with a firm, flat surface with no extra items such as blankets or toys.”

We urge our readers to follow these steps and to share them with parents of infant children.

September may be Baby Safety Month but it’s good advice for any month, every day.