The High Authority for Health and the National Professional Pediatric Council recall the importance of sleeping babies on their backs to avoid the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
It is recommended to systematically put babies on their backs in a suitable bed to avoid the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, the main risk factor of which is the prone position, recalls the High Authority for Health in a memo sheet written in partnership with the National Professional Pediatric Council (CNP-P).
Choking, hyperthermia, cranial deformities
Between 300 and 400 babies die each year in France, among which a hundred because of their bad positioning. Lying on the belly, the infant risks burial, hyperthermia and respiratory confinement, just as in a lateral position he risks tipping over on his belly. “Restraint materials (baby wedge, head wedge, positioning cushion, bed reducer, etc.) are useless, deleterious and dangerous because they can promote ventral reversal and increase the risk of asphyxiation death by burial”alerts the HAS.
The prone position also increases the risk of suffering from positional cranial deformities. In April 2017, the French Association of Chiropractic (AFC) and the association The link alerted to the rise in cases of plagiocephaly, more commonly known as “flat head”. Le Lien, according to which 20% of babies would be affected, had at the time contacted the HAS for preventive actions to be put in place.
The prevention instructions to follow
Today, the HAS reiterates its prevention instructions: the baby must be lying on his back on a firm mattress in a cot, installed in a suitable sleeping bag, without pillows or duvets or blankets, with a moderate ambient temperature (18-20°), ideally in the parents’ bedroom. First 6 months of life, avoiding sharing the parental bed and without exposure to tobacco.
Recommendations that it addresses to families, but also to “caregiver, maternal assistant, childcare assistant, nurse, physiotherapist, general practitioner, osteopath, pediatrician, psychomotor therapist, childcare worker, midwife, social and family intervention technician, etc..”
It is also recommended to vary the postures and to encourage the spontaneous rotations of the baby’s head according to the age. “The ventral and lateral postures can be explored during privileged exchanges with the adult. Due to the risk of burial, the infant must be constantly monitored during the phases of awakening on the stomach..”
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