The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants sleep on a firm mattress without any loose blankets, bumpers, stuffed animals, pillows, or other objects in their crib. These accessories, while outwardly beautiful, increase the risk of an infant smothering to death in their sleep. Infant deaths due to smothering are tragic and preventable, and we must encourage all possible platforms to model safe sleep. 

Unfortunately, aspirational nursery designs, like those featured in HGTV’s content, often depict infant sleep surfaces unsafely. Families might model their nurseries off of the designs they see in TV shows on HGTV and other media outlets, full of cute pillows and sweet, but unsafe, stuffed animals in the crib. This makes it harder for pediatric healthcare providers to encourage adherence to the proper guidelines.

We pediatric healthcare providers, as signed below, urge HGTV and other content creators to only feature sleep surfaces that conform to the AAP’s safety guidelines. HGTV would not recommend a dangerous staircase without proper railings, or a weak structural beam that could collapse on a family, so why glorify unsafe sleep surfaces that could smother an infant to death? Change in this area could help save the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Please act now.