Putting babies to sleep on their backs has decreased the risk of Sudden Infant Death syndrome or SIDS, but more deaths could be prevented.

In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that infants be placed to sleep on their backs to reduce the number of deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Since then, the annual SIDS rate has decreased by more than 50 percent. Dr. Tracy Lower, associate professor of pediatrics at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, explains:

SOUND BITE: ". . . the factors that we know are a significant risk to babies are sleeping on the tummy, so we recommend putting them to bed on their backs, not using real thick bedding that babies sink into, and we recommend to avoid tobacco exposure, too. The experts think that if we could get rid of smoke exposure to these babies, we would decrease SIDS by another 40 percent."

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is still the third leading cause of infant deaths, with about 3,000 deaths per year in the United States. Dr. Lower says most parents have been educated about putting their babies to sleep on their backs, but the practice is not be used consistently in all child care situations. To improve this situation, she recommends:

SOUND BITE: "I would advise parents to also share this information with grandparents, aunts and uncles and daycare centers, because we still see about 20 percent of sudden infant death syndrome happening at a babysitters or daycare situations, where they are still put to sleep on their tummies."

If you would like to know more about putting babies to sleep on their back, contact your pediatrician or primary care physician.