You can sleep curled up, on your back, or face down with one leg dangling from the edge of the bed. If you feel comfortable and well-rested, you’re golden! Unfortunately for babies, it’s not that simple. For example, if your mini-babies mimic your favorite sleeping position, they may be at higher risk of unexplained sudden death of an infant (SUID). Here’s everything you need about your newborn’s sleeping positions and how they perform when it comes to safety.
The Safest Sleeping Position for Newborns: Lying on Your Back
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), having a newborn supine is considered the most effective way to reduce your baby’s risk of SUID. You should continue to do this throughout your baby’s first year at bedtime and naptime. After all, the rate of sudden infant death in the United States plummeted by more than 50 percent after the start of a nationwide campaign to encourage babies to sleep safely.
You will see that when your baby is in this gold-standard sleep position, not only will they breathe more easily, but they will be much less likely to suck or choke from spitting up compared to other sleep positions. (When babies doze off on their backs, their trachea is located above the esophagus, so it’s nearly impossible for spitting up or vomit in the esophagus to accumulate in the trachea and cause injury.) In addition, studies have shown that babies sleeping on their backs are also less prone to fever, nasal congestion, and ear infections.
Unsafe Sleeping Position for Babies
The bottom line is that babies are safest when they sleep on their backs. There is no other sleeping position that can be compared. However, babies do writhe and roll. In-laws and babysitters sometimes follow their own rules for safe sleep; Although many parents intend to put their babies to sleep only on their backs, it seems that only about 44% of moms actually follow this safe sleep routine. Finally, many babies don’t sleep on their backs all the time. Instead, the way they sleep is as follows, and what that means for their safety:
The Baby Sleeps on His Stomach
Babies are not recommended to sleep on their stomachs for a number of reasons. First, it is thought that babies sleeping on their stomachs may block their airways and impede breathing. Also, when babies sleep on their stomachs, anything they spit out or vomit will collect at the opening of the trachea, greatly increasing their chances of aspiration or suffocation. The belly-down position may also interfere with your baby’s ability to dissipate heat, which can lead to overheating, the cause of SUID. But perhaps most importantly, research shows that babies who sleep on their stomachs may “rebreathe” their own oxygen, which raises their carbon dioxide levels while lowering their oxygen levels. For most babies, inhaling this foul air triggers their brains to wake them up and cry so that they can inhale fresh oxygen. But sometimes this wakefulness and breathing signals can fail for the baby, making sleeping on the stomach very dangerous. The sobering truth is that nearly 49% of babies who die in their sleep are found lying on their stomachs.
Babies Sleep on Their Side
Just because a curly side sleep is often referred to as a “fetal position,” doesn’t mean it’s safe for babies! In fact, sleeping on the side is considered “unstable” and has been found to increase the likelihood that a baby will roll over and tummy. Sadly: almost half of the babies who died in their sleep were found to be on their stomachs. If you think that using a well-placed pillow, roll cloth or other item will prevent your baby sleeping on his or her side from rolling over on his or her stomach, be aware that these items pose a different risk: they increase the chances of your baby getting entangled or suffocating.
Occasionally, Unsafe Sleeping Positions for Infants
Even brief or infrequent sleeps on your side or stomach are dangerous. According to the NIH, babies who are Xi sleeping on their backs but may later be placed on their stomachs or on their sides by grandparents, babysitters or daycare workers — are “significantly at significantly higher risk” of developing SIDS compared to other infants. Again, this means that babies should sleep on their backs at all times until their first birthday.
A Safe Sleep Solution for Tummy and Side Sleepers
It’s no wonder that babies often like to sleep on their stomachs or on their sides. Holding a baby in a side/prone position is actually one of the 5 S, a womb-like sensation that taps on the baby’s calm reflex, an innate neural response that acts as nature’s irritability “switch”. (The rest of the S include swaddling, booing, waddling, and sucking.) Holding your baby in a side or prone position is great for comforting your little one, and it’s not safe to sleep.