Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) usually occurs in infants up to one year of age. Its cause is hard to predict, but many of the victims of this syndrome have the same characteristics as sleeping face down. This happens in even healthy children, with no signs or a history of illness. The child suffers asphyxiation without being detected in time, leading to death.
Sleeping on the chest is considered a favorite position of many children and all parents recognize that the baby sleeps better when lying, so they don’t turn the baby back.
Meanwhile, according to medical experts, lying on the back is the most advantageous position for children. Parents should pay attention to adjusting for the baby, not just for the night’s sleep but also the naps of the day.
Baby Sleeps Face Down – Is That Good For Health?
Advantages:
When a child lies on chest, it turns out to be very beneficial for the development of the chest and lungs and can improve the volume of the lungs and respiratory system of the baby to promote development.
This is why a lot of mothers are willing to give their child a face-down nap at a few days old. When lying on his stomach, he/she does not face the risk of head deformity. Most of the fetus in the uterus sleep in this position.
Disadvantages:
1. The limbs and toes of the baby can not move freely. The chest and abdomen are firmly attached to the mattress, which makes them hot, prone to rash and eczema. Sleeping face down can lead to choking.
2. For infants and newborns, the head is large and heavy, while the support of the nape is not properly developed, the baby can not be flexible, it is easy for things like blankets and pillows to block the nostrils leading to suffocation.
3. Sleeping face down makes babies sweat more. If you do not pay attention to wiping the sweat for your child regularly, it will lead to colds.
4. For children, long-term sleeping face down causes the facial bones to become susceptible to deformation, affecting the aesthetic appearance of the face and nasopharynx are not entirely developed.
5. Sleeping on the stomach is not good for health because when lying on the stomach, it will affect the respiratory tract of the baby. When inhaling and exhaling, the chest and abdomen can not expand and contract as usual. Then it can lead to hypoxia and circulation of all other organs.
6. If the child sleeps with the bum up, it is easy for babies to get a diaphragmatic hernia and cause the same symptoms as bowel obstruction, which can make the baby uncomfortable.
How To Adjust The Sleeping Posture For Baby?
When she is asleep, you can adjust her sleeping position. Let your baby lie on his or her back when sleeping is best. Because when sleeping in this position, the baby’s body will be completely comfortable, the internal organs are not under pressure, so that the sleep of newborns is safer.
Therefore, there are some helpful methods that you can easily do. With these following suggestions, you can stop baby sleeping face down:
- Put your baby on his or her back from the beginning of sleep. If you put the child lying on the side, it is a convenient position for the baby to sleep on chest.
- Try placing your baby close to the crib or inside of the bed so that the space between the baby and the crib/bed is the smallest, and at the same time, use a small pillow to block the rest of the baby’s body. So, he/ she will not have the opportunity to turn over when sleeping.
- Use a piece of padding along the crib, adjacent to the baby’s bed. This helps to limit the use of hands, clinging to the bars and overturned the body while sleeping.
- However, you should also note that the sleeping position also depends on pathological factors. If your baby has severe heart disease, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, the half-sitting position will make he or she feel better. Children with acute hepatitis have mild latent pain syndrome should choose a left sided sleeping position.
- On the other hand, you can put your babies on chest and play with them. Place the baby on his/her stomach on a flat surface and give them a small toy in front of them, so they will try to crawl to get the toy.
By this way, your child will be able to control the muscles of the neck. The more practical the baby, the more able to control the head and neck of the baby.
Conclusion
With the information above, hopefully, it helps you. Share this post if you like it, and if you have any question, feel free to leave comments in the box below. Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
