Your Baby Sleep Position And SIDS

Learn How To Minimise The Risk Of Cot Death

Do you fall asleep flat on your back? No? Well it's not a very comfortable sleep position for most people. Not for many babies either.

But there is a very strong reason to teach your baby to fall asleep and sleep on his back. And that is, I'm sure you've heard that the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or cot death is a lot lower that way.

Even if very few babies actually die from SIDS, most parents worry about it. Such an unbearable thought to find your baby in his crib one morning.. I can't even write the words!

So what can parents do to really minimize the risk of SIDS?

Baby Sleep Postion To Prevent SIDS

• Sleep position: On the back
• Pacifier in mouth
• Firm Mattress
• Be careful with blankets and stuffed animals
• Cool sleep temperature
• No smoking around the baby
• Breastfeeding
• Want more?

Sleep position: On the back

When the general recommendation came to let infants sleep on their backs, the incidence of SIDS fell everywhere. While there are other factors as well increasing the risk for SIDS, sleeping on the stomach is the highest risk factor your baby. So choose the right sleep position - back sleeping - and let your baby get used to it.

If you're worried that your baby will choke or get a flat head sleeping on his back, click here for answers.

Pacifier in mouth

Recently it was found that a pacifier actually reduces the risk of SIDS. It is not clear why, but experts believe that the pacifier might make it easier for the baby to wake up, that breathing through the mouth is facilitated and that babies turn less to sleep on their stomachs when using a pacifier.

If you need some tips on how to get your baby to accept a pacifier, click here.

Firm Mattress

Be careful with blankets and stuffed animals

Be very careful not to place blankets of stuffed animals into the crib in a way so that the baby might pull them over his face.

Consider buying a sleeping bag, such as the Grobag Sleeping Bag, which I've used and really like, to eliminate the risk that the baby covers its face with a blanket if it is too cold to sleep without some kind of bedding.

Cool sleep temperature

No smoking around the baby

Smoking both during pregnancy and near the baby after birth has a clear connection with SIDS. For example, smoking during pregnancy increases the risk for SIDS by 3 to 4 times and more the more the mother smokes.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding appears to lower the risk for SIDS. Different studies show somewhat contradictory results, but there seem to be a slightly lower risk among babies that are breastfed completely for at least four months.

Want more?

Well, these are the present guidelines to help parents reduce the risk for cot death as much as possible. But since research isn't clear yet on the causes of SIDS, recommendations are likely to conitue to develop. A fairly recent study in 2007 indictated found the same hearing impairment in all babies in the study that had dies from SIDS. Hence it is possible that it will be possible in the future to identify babies that are at risk for SIDS using a simply hearing test.

If you want to learn more about SIDS precautions, I can really recommend the potentially life-saving DVD Saving Baby's Life...When Every Second Counts. This is an award winning DVD on infant CPR. Should be in every baby's home, in my opinion.

For more facts about SIDS, click here.

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Sources:
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center of Seattle (2007, July 26). Infant Hearing Test Results May Predict Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 18, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/07/070726153257.htm
Fleming P, Blair PS 'Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and parental smoking' Early Human Development (in press, 2007)
Hauck FR, Omojokun OO, Siadaty MS. 'Do pacifiers reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome - a meta-analysis'. Pediatrics Vol 116, No 5, November 2005, pp e716-e723
Li D-K, Willinger M et al 'Use of a dummy (pacifier) during sleep and risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): population based case-control study' BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.38671.640475.55 (published 9 December 2005)