Babies at high risk least likely to sleep on back

The tiniest babies who are most at risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) may also be those most likely to be put to sleep on their bellies, substantially raising the threat of SIDS, according to a recent research.A study by researchers from Massachusetts and Ohio was done to describe sleep positions among low birth weight infants, variations in sleep position according to birth weight, and changes in sleep position over time. They also analysed risk factors and influences associated with prone sleep. A survey was conducted with 907 mothers who had given birth to underweight newborns. All the babies weighed less than 5.5 pounds at birth. Those weighing less than 3.3 pounds were categorized as very low birth weight.The survey showed that the overall rate of infant belly sleeping a month after hospital discharge declined from about 20% at the beginning of the study to 11% at the end. The very low birth weight babies had a substantially higher rate of belly sleeping than the low birth weight babies. And those in the very low birth weight group were about twice as likely to be placed on their bellies to sleep (26%) than the infants in the higher weight group (14%). In addition, a decline in belly sleeping among very low birth weight infants during the course of the study was accompanied by an increase in side sleeping, not back sleeping. While side sleeping may be safer than belly sleeping, it is not as safe as back sleeping because babies who sleep on their side could roll over onto their stomach. It was noted that very low birth weight infants have the highest risk for SIDS, three to four times greater than among healthy newborns. When asked why they put their babies to sleep on their stomachs, 32% of mothers of very low birth weight newborns cited infant preference while 29% said their doctor or other health professional recommended it and 11% said they were following the practices of their hospital nursery.

Researchers said that the importance of putting infants to sleep on their backs appeared to not be getting through to all health care professionals who treat premature infants in neonatal intensive care units. And some doctors caring for premature babies with respiratory problems or reflux may feel that it is better for these youngsters to sleep on their stomachs. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended against belly sleeping since 1992. The stance has been revised to say that all babies should be put to sleep on their backs and for all babies, back sleeping is the recommended position.

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