If you sleep on your side, stomach or roll around from position to position in the night, always having to sleep on the back might seem uncomfortable and unrealistic to you. Yet, doctors recommend not giving young infants a choice: it's back sleeping for the sake of safety. The choice of stomach sleeping becomes a safe option only after your baby develops certain motor skills.
Stomach Sleeping Dangers
Sleeping on the stomach puts infants at risk for sudden infant death syndrome. The exact reason why babies die from stomach sleeping is unknown, but researchers theorize infants might suffocate on the mattress or "rebreathe" their own air -- eventually causing oxygen levels to drop and carbon dioxide to accumulate, resulting in death. Infants are at risk for SIDS anytime within the first year, although the risk is highest from ages 2 to 4 months and during cold weather.
Stomach Sleeping Safety
While the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends putting babies to sleep on their backs for the first year, eventually your baby learns to roll from his back to stomach and back again. When your baby can roll over, usually around age 4 to 7 months, it's OK to let your baby pick his own sleep position, including on his stomach, says KidsHealth from Nemours. If your baby has the ability to roll back and forth, the risk for SIDS decreases because the risk of getting stuck on the mattress and suffocating has decreased.
Exceptions
Although rare, sometimes doctors recommend infants sleep on their stomachs to help gastroesophageal reflux -- a condition in which the stomach contents back up into the esophagus during or after a meal, resulting in spitting up and vomiting. If your infant suffers from GERD, discuss all treatment options with your doctor, including adjusting feedings and trying medications. Stomach sleeping should be a last resort, and only done with your doctor's OK.
Considerations
When you go to sleep at night, you want to know you've done all you can to keep your baby safe. You can do this by always putting your baby to sleep on his back on a firm mattress and by keeping the crib free of blankets, pillows, toys and anything that could cause your baby to choke or suffocate. Sleeping on his back can cause a flat spot on the back of the baby's head from too much time spent on his back, a condition called positional plagiocephaly; however, you can prevent this by changing your baby's position in the crib and by encouraging supervised "tummy time" when your baby is awake.
