Sleep Positioners Can Result in an Infant’s Death

Sleep Positioners are Too Dangerous for the Baby's Life

How would you like to put your baby to sleep and place him/her in a fixed position throughout his/her sleep in something called a ‘nest’ when you sleep comfortably on the cot? Sounds good isn’t it? But it is completely unsafe for the infant as it can sometimes even result in death due to suffocation.

The most common sleep positioners either have a raised pillow attached to a mat or a wedge to raise a baby’s head with the sole intention of keeping a baby in a specific position while sleeping (intended for infants under 6 months old).

Suggestions for Putting an Infant to Sleep

1. Avoid sleep positioners for infants 100% of the time as using such things to make the infant stay in one position (side or back) is dangerous.
2. Never place pillows, blankets, loose sheets, comforters or quilts under a baby or in a crib as such things can act dangerously on the baby. Small babies never need a pillow like adults to sleep and proper clothing, rather than blankets, can help them stay warm.
3. Keep the baby’s crib and sleeping areas bare refraining from putting soft toys or other objects in sleeping areas.
4. Position the baby on his/her back at night and during nap time. 

Sleep positioners can lead to two main problems, suffocation and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Although some sleep positioners claim to prevent SIDS, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or flat head syndrome (deformation caused by pressure on one part of the skull), none of them are practically happening in real-life scenario. GERD in infants is troublesome and affects the infant in quite many ways as detailed in the website www.firsteatright.com.

We should take precautionary measures and stay away from such self-proclaiming sleep positioners to prevent any incident or injury from the same, which is more likely to happen when the baby becomes capable of moving around by itself.