Your Flexible Baby

Prior to 1992, it was common practice to put babies to sleep on their stomachs, as this was believed to comfort them and help them settle to sleep. Parents would tuck their babies in under a baby blanket and leave them be until morning. While this may have been effective, it was also contributing to numerous SIDS deaths each year. The American Academy of Pediatrics, after studying this data for some time, put together the "Back to Sleep" campaign - a program recommending parents worldwide to put their babies to sleep on their back instead of their stomach.

This single act cut the SIDS mortality rate in half. However, SIDS is still around, and simply placing your baby to sleep on their back is no guarantee.

Say Goodbye to the Baby Blanket

It's also been common practice for parents to place a baby blanket, stuffed animal, or a few favorite toys in the crib along with their sleeping infant. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, these innocuous objects could threaten your infant's life. They could suffocate on the baby blanket, aspirate loose hairs from the stuffed animal, or injure themselves on the toys. While the likelihood of these things happening is not high, where your newborn is concerned, wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?

To deal with the loss of the baby blanket which, traditionally, kept infants warm through the night, the AAP created the "baby sleeping bag", a wearable blanket with a zippered front. These have been found to be extremely effective at helping infants sleep more soundly and for longer hours than with a loose baby blanket, which most parents reported would get kicked off or pushed aside during the night.

Helping Your Baby Sleep

There are many infants who simply refuse to sleep on their backs. Some like to curl up onto their side; some are discovered in the morning on their stomachs; still others change position every few hours, and roam all over the crib while they sleep. While none of these is "wrong" or actually dangerous, if you do use a baby blanket, they can pose a threat.

A "wandering" baby, who moves around a great deal in his sleep, is at risk for injuring himself on the crib or suffocating on a baby blanket. If your child moves around a lot during the night, you should definitely remove all loose baby bedding from the crib, including the baby blanket, and any crib bumper you may have installed. Contrary to popular advice, the crib bumper is not only unnecessary, it's also dangerous.

Side-sleeping is not inherently dangerous, as long as there are no suffocation hazards presented in the area of your baby's face. If, for example, they sleep with a baby blanket and the baby blanket gets wedged between the baby's face and the crib bars, it could have disastrous results. However, most babies old enough to roll onto their side and purposefully stay in that position are also old enough to turn away from a breathing hazard and seek out a better position independently.

If you frequently find your baby on their stomach in the morning, don't panic. Tummy-sleeping is not an instant death warrant, it's simply cautioned against. Since your baby has developed the skill of turning over, try to help him grow beyond that point and begin crawling. Once your infant knows how to crawl, they're capable of avoiding obstacles (such as an awkwardly folded or looming baby blanket) and removing themselves from harm's way, although slowly.