Babies Should Always Sleep on Their Backs
August 17th 2009 by Dr.MOZ in Family Safety, Movies and Media, Sleeping
This post’s title may seem obvious to many of you, but a study released this morning by AAP’s Pediatrics (download study PDF) shows that many major magazines are confusing the issue with ads depicting unsafe infant sleeping positions and unsafe sleeping environments. The study included 391 pictures from 28 major magazines (5 million +
circulation to qualify as “major”) marketed to women of childbearing age of 20-40 years old showed:
- More than one third of pictures of sleeping infants in magazines geared toward childbearing women demonstrated infants in an inappropriate sleep position.
- Two thirds of pictures of infant sleep environments were not consistent with AAP recommendations.
- Messages in the media that are inconsistent with health care messages create confusion and misinformation about infant sleep safety and may lead inadvertently to unsafe practices.
Have you noticed advertisements showing babies sleeping in unsafe positions, or sleeping in cribs with dangerous plush bedding? If so, share it with us by clicking on the bubble to open the comment box below. I’d be interested to see examples online as well, so feel free to leave a related link if you find one. I honestly haven’t noticed this, but I’ll certainly keep an eye open for it now that the AAP has put this on the radar.
Have fun and stay healthy,
Dr.MOZ
August 18th, 2009 at 5:56 am
i think those ads should be fixed, people tend to believe stuff on tv and i think it is horrible whenever something bad happens that doesn’t need to.
August 18th, 2009 at 7:05 am
this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDupIbvowg states in 2007, 14 babies died in Stanislaus County because of unsafe sleep situations. It also demonstrates some safe practices. In India women use saree (a typical indian women’s wear) for cradles. They hang it on a hook in the roof and will high around 3 ft from the floor. Babies are made to sleep in the cradle and they are always on their back. Its easy to manage it and also very easy to put the baby to sleep just by some slow and uniform wobbling.
August 18th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
When shopping for a crib for our baby boy, we turned to the internet and a few print catalogs. It seems all the pictures of cribs had them done up with ultra soft plush pads, pillows, and blankets. They make them look luxurious and comfortable and forget about the most important thing….SAFETY!
August 19th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
As a mom, this is very informative for me and should be read by other moms also. Regarding the position of our baby during sleeping time is very important. Before my mom used to tell me that when she let’s us sleep, tummy is facing downward (if you know what i mean). Then I read from a baby’s guide that SIDS(Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is very common and increasing so they advise to let baby’s sleep on their backs and that is what I do with my child and I’ve told my sister about this also. Babies are helpless and dependent to us as their parents, so we should be very careful with how we take care of them. They are our precious gifts from up above.
Thanks for this article. Keep posting issues like this. Very helpful.
Karen Davis
August 19th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
i think those ads should be fixed, people tend to believe stuff on tv and i think it is horrible whenever something bad happens that doesn’t need to.
August 26th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Great information here Doc.!
Glad somebody’s willing to get the word out about these things which can be quite life threatening..
There’s so much misinformation going round that one really has got to keep on top of things!
August 27th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I fully agree. Every day we get an amount of incorrect information from TV, Internet and what not. And the most horrible thing is that we believe it and follow the advices of advertising campaigns of different products. It seems to me that the only way out is to check information several times and think twice while buying something which deals with health.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I definitely agree with you messages in the media that are inconsistent with health care messages create confusion and misinformation about infant sleep safety and may lead inadvertently to unsafe practices..
September 19th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I was told over and over babies should sleep on their backs no matter what.
October 11th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I’m not too surprised to find this out since the culprits seem to be advertisers selling baby bedding. They want to make it look inviting as possible and a bed stripped of anything but a sheet and a baby on it’s back aren’t the most “cozy” for adverts. Still I agree that (sadly) people follow the recommendations in the media.
It would be best if people could be more informed, but short of that we have to rely on common sense and not the pictures in magazine ads.
Agreed that it is common knowledge that babies should sleep on their back.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Proper positioning for babies when sleeping is very important for their safety. Study report shows that SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is a leading cause of death for infants. Improper positioning when sleeping for infants may cause SIDS. I believe that the media should be aware and responsible of what they advertise because some people tend to follow what they see on TV.