On their back or on their tummy ?

SIDS, also known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, is when an otherwise healthy baby stops breathing for no apparent reason upon an autopsy. SIDS is not hereditary. SIDS is not apnea. SIDS is not suffocation. A child is not born with SIDS. Pacifiers DO NOT prevent SIDS. SIDS is not caused by smoking. Positioning has nothing to do with why a baby suddenly stops breathing. Suffocation is not SIDS so a baby that dies on its tummy because it was face down in the crib or because of a blanket is not SIDS it is suffocation, not the same thing. They have changed the way they rule a SIDS death and suffocation is suffocation it is no longer considered SIDS. My daughter was on her back and still died of SIDS. I joined a SIDS group shortly after she died and guess what....most of the mothers in my group have also stated that their babies were on their backs, sides, in strollers, swings, etc. There were only a couple on their tummy. If a baby dies on its tummy and it was not suffocation then yeah it was probably SIDS but that baby would have died in any position just like my daughter did. A sudden cesation of breathing has nothing to do with positioning or there would be no babies at all dying other than in just one position. People are so hell bent on this back to sleep stuff that they follow it so cautiously along with everything else they have come up with and then like me their baby dies and they are left saying but I did everything I was supposed to. It doesn't matter what you do. Whatever is causing these babies to stop breathing is beyond our control as parents. It is something you have no control over and if it's going to happen it's going to happen. You should just enjoy your baby and not let this overwhelm you. I've had two more and both of them slept in whatever position they wanted, usually on their stomach, and they are both fine. SIDS has been known to happen up until 1 year but the risk decreases after 6 months. I know three people in my SIDS group that lost their babies at 10 month and two at 12 months. There are also 2 that lost their baby to SIDS while their baby was awake so it doesn't even have to happen while they are sleeping. They say it is more likely to happen to males, in the winter months, and african american babies but my baby was a girl, it happened in June, and she was white. I don't buy any of the garbage they try to tell people anymore because more than likely if you do your research and ask people that it has actually happened to you can discredit everything they are saying. Just like the pacifier supposedly reducing the risk, yeah right, my daughter had a pacifier in her mouth and it fell out when she stopped breathing. That is another one that got asked of the mothers in my group and as it turns out the pacifier did not do their babies any good either. Good theory but it is not true, but people will believe anything because it is easier to beleive that something, no matter what it is, is a solution for why babies just suddenly dies, but they need to get some facts and proof before they start preaching it to people.

Both of my children are/were tummy sleepers. My son is 7-yrs old now and my daughter is 9 wks old. Both had great strength as far as lifting their head and control.

There was a post about this subject yesterday and a mother responded with her own experience with SIDS. If I find it, I'll post again...but from what she noted SIDS can happen at any moment really. There are a few parents in her support group that tragically lost their children to SIDS and all were back sleepers. Even a few cases where the children weren't even asleep and were lost to SIDS. I guess along with all the research on what causes SIDS, there are also support groups and websites of parents who have had to deal with it first hand and say that the studies put out there aren't necessarily right (or wrong).

You are right - They havent pin-pointed what the cause of SIDS is. SO, they decided to take as many precautions as possible. That being said, a newborn baby does not have the mobility to move their head from side to side. If they happen to get face down, they may have a hard time turning it to the side. Why take the chance? So to stay on the safe side, they say to have them sleep on their back. By the time they are old enough to roll over, suffocation will no longer be an issue. They say that baby can also sleep on his side, because he still can not roll himself over yet, so suffocation is unlikely. Better to be safe than sorry, and I think that is the main reason for the tummy to back change.

The medical field continues to change its recommendations. Just a year ago a friend of mine was told to lay her foster baby on her side!! The latest research done on SIDS has found that babies who are victims of the syndrome have a chemical deficiency. These babies do not have that chemical in their brain that says, "You can't breathe. Lift up your head and take a breath of air." In other words, the findings say these children have a chemical imbalance. My son is 7 months old and he has slept on his tummy since he was about a month old. He would only sleep for 10 minutes at a time on his back. He is much more comfortable on his tummy and he has been sleeping through the night since he was about 11 weeks old.

I'm a new mom, and young at that (20).

I read up on absolutely everything I could find while I was pregnant, so of course I was terrified at the thought of my child sleeping on her tummy--the risk of SIDS and suffocation. For the first two months, when she was unable to hold up her head steadily and wasn't very mobile, I made sure she slept on her back. My mom and mother-in-law had told me that they allowed all their children (including my boyfriend and I!) to sleep on their tummies. So, when she became a little 'wiggly,' and had more head and neck control, I put her to sleep on her tummy in her crib. And she lived. :)

Now she passes right out on her tummy, it's the only way we can get her to nap or sleep deeply at night. She is five months old. She also sleeps with us in our bed, since I am breastfeeding her. This is also not recommended by doctors. But it's the easiest for us, and it works.

Of course I'm not discrediting the SIDS risk or anything else. I'm simply saying, it works for me. :)

The reason being that if the child is at risk for SID then laying on their stomach is a bad position for them. God forbid they stop breathing the smother themselves with the bed sheet. But generally for healthy children that can lift their heads up it not a concern. All my kids slept on their stomachs and all of them were afraid to sleep on their backs. I did try by all of them. When I finally gave up and switched to their stomachs they slept through the night. So I am totally with you. I keep my kids on their stomachs but do be careful not to have any thick blankets or diapers near their faces in the crib. Good Luck and congratulations on the baby!!

The reason doctors tell you to put baby on his back is because of suffocation. Baby is not that strong, and may not be able to move if he, for example, gets his head stuck under the blanket.

This was actually found to be one of the leading reasons babies die.

That said, I actually do not think tummy sleeping is bad...

but be smart about it. Don't give baby a pillow, or blanket. Instead dress him in a warm sleeper.

Remove the crib bumper too. It is only there for looks, and can pose a huge hazard if baby rolls over with her face pressed into it.

The only thing a crib really needs is a good firm mattress, and a tight fitting sheet.

A couple of reasons....babies can put their face in covers and breathe too much carbon dioxide...babies who sleep on their stomachs are harder to arouse, more likely to over-heat, re-breaths more, increases carbon dioxide, has more apnea.....The medical field still isn't sure what causes SIDS but since they have pressed putting babies to sleep on their backs there has been a dramatic decrease in SIDS. While there are a lot of risk factors for SIDS, stomach sleeping can increase the risk by 12%. Once a baby can roll over there is much less reason to worry. Once my son began to roll over I could not keep him off of his stomach. So, I bought a blanket sleeper that he wears so that it eliminates blankets in the crib.

To be honest my kids were the same way.. the loved to sleep on the tummies.. I just made sure that I was around when they sleep.. when they were in their cribs I made sure their face was side ways.. plus i think it helped when my daughter had colic - I did rotate them of course and at first I let them sleep on their back but as soon as they got used to a position I would leave them there.. remember you will always have your materinal instinct. and when they are awake I try to leave them on their tummies... it helps them stretch more and get ready to roll over and crawl.. if you don't put them on their stomach they may not like it once you start and you will have a hard time with training them on being on their stomach.. i suggest sleep rotations...

They have discovered that most cases of SIDS are caused by what is know an carbon dioxide rebreathing...when the CO2 the baby exhales stays too close to the nose and mouth, and the infant re-inhales it and does not get enough oxygen. The American Academy of Pediatrics started telling doctors to tell parents to always put their babies to sleep on their backs, and the death rates from SIDS decreased 70 percent. So, yes, it's important, and yes, it's a recent ruling.