Make sure your baby is sleeping in the right position with these simple tips

In a reel shared on Instagram, Dr. Santosh Yadav talks about the various sleeping positions infants have, and how they may or may not be related to sudden infant death syndrome.

Monitoring and correcting sleeping habits of the infant is important. (Source: Freepik)

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Newborn babies are always a challenge. For most new parents, their only solace is putting their babies to sleep for some hours of respite. However, even though it might seem like that’s where parents can relax and let their guard down – it’s not.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in babies has haunted many parents across the world. Though the phenomenon is less common in Asian families or countries, it is always better to be safe than sorry. SIDS is a relative mystery in the medical sciences – very little is known about what causes it and how to prevent it.

Despite this, there have been certain parenting habits which have been termed as better than others in terms of this rare phenomenon. Monitoring and correcting sleeping habits of the infant is one of the most important ones.

In a reel shared on Instagram, Dr Santosh Yadav talks about the various sleeping positions infants have, and how they may or may not be related to sudden infant death syndrome. Dr Yadav answers the question “How should I put my baby to sleep?” with several illustrated examples of do’s and don’ts.

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A post shared by Dr.Santosh Yadav | (MD,FIAP,DASII) (@parentingtips_surat)

The position he recommends as best is putting your baby on their back with a pillow for head support. The other positions he recommends are putting your infant on either side. Additionally, Dr Yadav strongly advises against is putting your baby on their stomachs. He says that this is not advisable until babies reach six months of age. Dr Yadav explains that, until six months, babies don’t get any support or control in their necks. Therefore, putting them on their stomachs for sleep can suffocate them and cause sudden infant death syndrome.

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Dr Kanchan S Channawar, Senior Pediatrician & Pediatric Intensivist at Kamineni Hospitals, Hyderabad, however, advised against letting babies sleep sideways. She said, “This position is not as dangerous as stomach sleeping, but it still increases the risk of SIDS. Sleeping with the head turned to one side can cause the baby to develop a flat spot on the head.”

She further advised against allowing your baby to sleep with objects in the crib as it might lead to suffocation. “The best sleeping position for babies is on their backs, on a firm mattress, in a crib that is free of any objects.”

Dr. Channawar has some advice so you can make sure your baby does not turn on the stomach while sleeping. She said, “There are a few things that parents can do to prevent babies from turning on their stomachs in their sleep. These include placing the baby in the crib on their back. Making sure the crib is free of any objects that the baby could use to turn over such as blankets, pillows or stuffed animals, swaddling the baby loosely and placing the baby’s head at the foot of the crib.”

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In the reel, Dr. Yadav further said that newborn babies sleep up to 16 to 18 hours. If newborn babies sleep in that position for that long, “They will be flat due to pressure.” Therefore, he suggested putting them sideways for some time.

Another position the doctor talks about is the “arching position”. “Some babies sleep in the arching position. It is normal if the baby’s weight is gaining, baby’s activity is good, and baby doesn’t milk a lot,” he concluded.

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