Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a concern for all new parents. We’ve heard the horror stories of parents returning to the nursery to wake their infant only to discover that their healthy baby passed away while sleeping.
For 23 years, new parents have been told to put their babies to sleep only on their backs to prevent SIDS. Astonishingly, a large percentage of parents aren’t following these simple, yet important instructions.
The medical journal Pediatrics released a survey of 3,297 mothers who were asked about the SafeTo Sleep campaign. 77.3% of the mothers asked said they put their babies to sleep on their backs, but they admitted to not always doing this.
Parents who didn’t put their babies to sleep on their back cited a concern about the baby choking. Many felt babies are more comfortable sleeping on their stomachs or the babies should choose their own sleeping positions.
“Grandmothers and aunts and everybody have told (mothers), if they have babies sleep on their bellies, they’re more comfortable; they’re not going to choke,” Dr. Robin Jacobson, a pediatrician at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone Health, said.
“And because of that, a new mom who doesn’t really have a lot of information is using information from everybody else in their life.”
In 2015, there were 3,700 unexpected infant deaths. 1,600 of those were from SIDS. Studies show that putting a baby to sleep on his back will greatly reduce the risk of dying.
This can happen to any family. The video below details how a pediatrician lost his son to SIDS six years ago. He has an important message about preventing this from happening to anyone else.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is also recommending babies sleep in the same room, but not the same bed, as parents until the child is six months old
Share this story to let other parents know how to prevent SIDS!
Source: CNN
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