Babies sleeping position

Research shows that putting your baby to sleep on their back reduces the risk of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome. This article discusses a study showing that only 77% of moms have their baby sleep on their back. This is despite a 23 year ongoing campaign to educate parents about safe sleeping positions.

Pictures of infants' sleeping positions in media

Here is an interesting abstract presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in San Diego. I didn't attend this meeting, but saw a write-up about this abstract here. The abstract is about a study designed to evaluate images in popular stock photograph websites and pictures of infants in magazines published for women of childbearing age. The study authors were attempting to determine if the pictures were in compliance with the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for safe infant sleep practices - meaning having your infant sleep on its back to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The results showed that just over half (50.3%) of the stock photos from websites showed the baby sleeping on its back. And only 15.7% of all infant sleep environments were compliant with American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations - meaning that the infant was not bed-sharing and the crib did not have soft objects like pillows, blankets, or bumper pads. With regard to the magazine pictures, there were 4 out of 12 pictures showing an infant sleeping on its stomach, which may raise the risk of SIDS. And only 7 of 24 magazine pictures properly demonstrated a safe infant sleep environment.

The study authors are concerned that stock photo websites and magazine pictures of infants sleeping in positions and environments not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics could confuse some women, causing them to think it's ok to let their infant sleep on its stomach, for example.

Crying to sleep safe for babies emotional health in the long term

This article discusses research showing that modern day approaches to helping your infant to sleep on their own, do not cause long lasting emotional or physical problems. The methods monitored were controlled comforting, where the parent(s) gradually lengthen the time interval to respond to baby's crying, and camping out in the bedroom.

Sleep Disturbance in Breastfed verses Formula-Fed Babies

My wife breastfed our children because we were taught it is healthier than formula feeding. I never heard that breastfeeding could permanently disrupt sleep in the baby and mother - but apparently this is common knowledge. However, research presented at the 2011 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition showed that the sleep disturbance in breastfed babies is temporary.

Researchers gathered data from questionnaires and compared the sleep habits of 89 breastfed infants to 54 formula-fed infants at baseline and at follow up visits at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months later. At baseline, the breastfed infants woke up more at night and were less likely to wake up in their own bed (I guess meaning the mom brought the infant to her room to sleep). The breastfed infants also took more daytime naps than the formula-fed infants. But at the six month follow up, the only difference was that the breastfed infants were less likely to wake up in their own bed. By nine months, all differences in sleep had disappeared, and these persisted for the 12 and 18 month follow ups.

The study lead author said that the results should be reassuring to parents that want to breast feed, but have heard that it can permanently disrupt sleep more than formula feeding. Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding as long as possible and at least to 12 months.