New study about SIDS (back sleeping and pacifier use)

[AndreaMMS]

I saw an article in the paper this morning that said in part:

"Infants should be put to sleep on their backs only, not their sides, and pacifiers can be used to help prevent sudden infant death syndrome, pediatricians said today.

Studies have found that the side sleep position is unstable and increases the chances of the infant rolling onto his or her stomach, the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement.

The academy's revised guidelines also say use of a pacifier in a baby's first year reduces the incidence of SIDS."

[albuquerque]

I'd be interested to know what others think about using sleep positioners designed to keep babies on their sides, in light of this article. I've read some scary things about plagiocephaly that make me really want to use a sleep positioner. On the other hand, I certainly don't want to increase my baby's risk for SIDS.

[sem426]

Here is the article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051010/ap_on_he_me/preventing_sids

[AmyE]

I read that article too - very interesting, and there are still questions. It does say that pacifier use should wait a month for BF babies - to make sure BF is established.

On the plagiocephaly issue: this doesn't affect many babies, and usually the babies have "risk" factors - such as their size. Most of the time you can avoid it by putting them on their back and moving their heads from one side to the other every other night.

dunno. There is never a magic answer, and then they keep changing the "rules..." Sigh.

[Daniel's Kitty]

I still think that my son will get to sleep on his side when he wants to. If he is in the mood to sleep on his side he screams if you roll him onto his back and he wakes up or he just rolls back onto his side.

[solongtogo]

I think it's funny that when I was a kid, they said to put the baby on their belly to reduce the risk of sids, so that's what was done.

Now it's put the baby on the back. I think this is a constantly changing topic, and until they figure out what causes it, nothing is set in stone.

[Mrs. M.]

An important point in the article is also that Babies should sleep in their parents' room.

I remember how DD's breathing synched with mine when she was small and sleeping on me/in the same room. For every breath I took, she took 2 in perfect synch. I really think that sleeping in the same room can keep their breathing on track. You will also notice sooner if anything is wrong if baby is in the room with you as opposed to down the hall.

[hub1176]

SIDS is such a scary thing and I wonder that if a baby is destined to die of SID if there is really anyway to "prevent" it. I think the reason they claim the SIDS rate was reduced when the Back To Sleep campaign started was due to the realiztion that babies may have been suffocating in their mattresses and thus were not truely SIDS deaths. I really wonder about this because anything I've read on recent SIDS deaths indicate that the babies were b/f'd(supposed to reduce risk), sleeping on their backs, and seemingly healthy. I can't even begin to imagine the pain and anguish a parent who lost their baby to SIDS must feel:(