Ads for cribs don’t reflect the advice that experts give to parents about providing a safe sleeping space for babies, according to research published in the journal Pediatrics and described on medscape.com

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has become much less common in recent decades as doctors have urged parents to put infants to sleep on their backs without pillows or other soft bedding and toys that could pose a suffocation risk. But it still remains a leading cause of infant mortality.

In the U.S. alone, SIDS kills about four babies out of every 10,000 live births, down from about 130 in 10,000 in 1990, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite the dramatic decline in death from SIDS since 1992, when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced that babies should be placed on their backs to sleep, many parents still fail to consistently follow safe sleep practices.

To prevent SIDS and other sleep-related deaths, the AAP encourages breastfeeding, pacifier use and firm crib mattresses and cautions against blankets, pillows, crib bumpers, soft toys and bed-sharing.

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