538 Investigation of sleep environment in Japan

<h3>Background</h3> Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) occurs at a certain rate each year. We know that some environmental conditions such as sleeping on the stomach or side, sleeping on a soft surface, and sharing a bed increase the risk of SIDS. The American Academy of Pediatrics updated sleep guidelines to help reduce SIDS, but since Japanese sleep practice is very different from United States’, it is difficult to fully follow the guideline. Perhaps, research on sleep environment in Japan is very limited. <h3>Methods</h3> An online survey was conducted among parents with children under 6 months in September 2023. <h3>Results</h3> One hundred and three parents participated in the survey. When asked about whether there was anything close to a child face, 61% of the respondents said “No”, 18% “towels”, 11% “toys”, 7% “stuffed animals”, and 5% “blanket”. Regarding the co-sleeping, 66% of the respondents said they shared a bed with their babies. Thirty-one percents of respondents said they practiced the breastfeeding lying down. When asked about the use of blanket or comforter throughout the year, a towel blanket was the most frequent answer while 33% of the respondents said they do not use anything. Although the use of bed guard is prohibited for babies under 18 months, four respondents used the guard when letting their babies sleep in a parent’s bed. Moreover, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled all inclined sleepers (baby bouncers) due to the risk of death for babies, 44% of the respondents said that they still use them. <h3>Conclusion</h3> We will continue to investigate sleep environments for babies in Japan and will develop safe sleep guideline that taking Japanese sleep practice into consideration.