Your baby’s journey from your tummy to your arms is complete. Bringing your little one home makes your heart swell with joy.
If this is your first baby, being a perfectionist in baby care will take little time, which includes breastfeeding, diaper changing and putting your baby to sleep. Sleeping is that one thing your baby will do best at this moment, which brings us to mentioning about the right position for the baby to sleep in.
The American Academy of Pediatrics strictly advises parents to make their baby sleep on their back be it at night or during naps.1 Sleeping on the back reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which claims the lives of more than 3500 babies per year in the US.
If the baby sleeps on their back the risk of SIDS is considerably reduced. Parents must make sure that there are no toys, blankets, or pillows around the baby, to prevent them from rolling over and suffocating with these items blocking the air flow. If the baby is born prematurely and is in NICU, he/she need to be kept on their tummy for some time due to temporary breathing problems. However, once they recover, they must be placed on their backs.
The risk of SIDS lurks until a baby is 1-year-old, the most vulnerable time being when the baby is aged between 1-4 months. When they are old enough, your baby will learn to roll between the back and front positions. You can either put them back to sleeping on his back or let them be.
10 years after the introduction of the sleeping guidelines for infants, the SIDS in the US dropped by 53%.2 A recent survey was conducted across 32 hospitals in the US, which included 3297 mothers. According to the study published in September 2017 in Pediatrics journal, only 43.7% of mothers agreed that they intended to and actually placed their babies on their backs when putting them to sleep.3
The research also points out that even though the parents know that babies should be made to sleep on their backs for safety reasons, they don’t follow through it. many parents also think that sleeping on their backs will make the baby choke. However, health experts say that parents need not worry about the risk of choking as the baby will either cough up or swallow any fluids to keep the airway clear.
When babies sleep on their back the windpipe is on the top of the esophagus or the food pipe. In case of a fluid secretion or discharge, it won’t reach the windpipe. However, if the bay is lying on the tummy, the fluid that comes out of the esophagus could collect near the windpipe and increase the risk of choking.
When your baby is awake you could place them on their tummy on a flat and clean surface. You can start with placing them on tummy for 3-5 minutes but don’t stress them. Gradually, increase the time as they slowly get used to being on the tummy. If they fall asleep, roll them over and put them to sleep on their back.
Some babies don’t like to sleep on their back and try to roll over in sleep. Gently, roll them back to sleep in the supine position. In the beginning, your baby may not be comfortable with the position, but slowly they will get accustomed to sleeping on their back.
Don’t compromise your baby’s safety and try the side position for sleep. To avoid the risk of SIDS, your baby should be sleeping on their back at night or whenever they take a nap.
References
