Back-Only Sleep for Babies Urged to Cut SIDS Risk
In a change in policy, the nation’s largest group of pediatricians recommended Tuesday that babies be put to bed on their backs to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
The 53,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics previously recommended that babies sleep face up or on their sides. But infants who sleep on their sides can roll onto their stomachs, thereby increasing the risk of SIDS.
Babies who sleep face up are less likely to succumb to SIDS than those who sleep on their sides. And both positions are far safer than sleeping face down.
In 1994, doctors and health officials began warning parents against letting children sleep on their stomachs. The campaign has been credited with saving 1,500 babies a year.
Before the campaign started, there were 5,000 to 6,000 American SIDS deaths annually among babies ages 1 month to a year.
“There are now 4,000 kids laughing and crying who would be dead without this program,” said Dr. Edward Keenan, academy president.
A baby should be placed on its back until age 1, or until it can roll onto its back unaided, the group said.
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