Burnley FC midfielder Josh Laurent is helping Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, along with Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool and Lancashire Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP), raise awareness of safer sleep messages as part of Safer Sleep Week between Monday 10 and Sunday 16 March 2025.
This year's theme will focus on what baby sleep should look like, versus when you may want to seek advice, busting common myths that we see online surrounding baby sleep, and supporting parents who are feeling sleep deprived.
Josh, who has played a key role in the Clarets’ push for an immediate return to the Premier League since arriving from Stoke City in August, is a father of two girls, aged six and 20 months, and took time out to pass on some important advice for new parents:
Put baby on their back for every sleep, in a clear, flat, separate sleep space; Keep them smoke free day and night and never sleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair.
Safer Sleep Week is the Lullaby Trust's national awareness campaign targeting anyone looking after a young baby. It aims to raise awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). SIDS or cot death is the sudden and unexpected death of a baby for no obvious reason and claims the lives of approximately three babies a week - almost 200 a year in the UK.
Agencies across the county work relentlessly with professionals, parents, families and carers to raise awareness on how to keep babies safe. We know that greater awareness of safer sleep leads to a decrease in the numbers of babies dying.
For more information, go to lullabytrust.org.uk
