Warning Against baby Sleep Positioners

In the last fifteen years, there have been many warnings released that warn parents against using baby sleep positioners because they can lead to serious injury or even death. A baby sleep positioned is a product used in baby care to prevent an infant from rolling over in their sleep so as to keep them in the position that is considered best for them by their parents.

Over the years, which position is best for your child has changed in the public opinion many times. It was once believed that laying a baby on its back was the best way to put a child to bed but many children who did not have the strength in their early months to turn their bodies or heads would asphyxiate if they vomited or even coughed up enough phlegm. As a result of this, parents began putting their children to be on their stomachs so that they would not risk asphyxiation, however, they are more likely to suffocate because they cannot turn their heads and the pressure of their bodies often lead to the inability to breath along with other issues in this positioning.

Now, many mothers prefer to place their baby on its side; propped up slightly on its side; or propped up lying down, while still others have reverted back to laying their babies flat on their backs. All of these methods are used in order to allow a baby to evacuate anything that may get into its mouth while not putting excessive weight on the young child’s lungs.

While each of these approaches differs, the infant care method often used to accomplish any of these three methods is the use of a sleep positioner, which is a typically cloth or pillow like product that holds a baby in the original position in which you place it. Parents have used sleep positioners in infant care as a means of protecting their children from rolling over in their sleep. These items which have for quite a few decades been used to prevent the suffocation of an infant have actually been proven as causing many infant deaths due to suffocation.

Investigations into the suffocations of these babies suggests that the cause of the suffocation is when a baby is placed in the sleep positioned, typically in these cases they are placed on their sides, and then rolls onto his or her stomach and gets stuck in that position which leads to asphyxiation. The problem that has arisen with these sleep positioners is that a child placed on its side can often use its own weight to help it have enough strength to turn its body onto its stomach however it will not have sufficient strength to return itself to its side or back.While all of the methods for placing your child in their crib in infant care have their different risks and none can absolutely prevent SIDS, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that the best method is to lay your child on their back with no soft objects or toys around them.