What were the 'rules' about putting your baby to sleep in the 1970s?

[70sCarpet]

As an adult, I absolutely cannot sleep on my back ever. And this got me thinking about how I might have been put to sleep in the cot? Did I form this habit very early on? Sadly my parents aren't around to ask. When I had my own kids, the advice was very definitely to put babies on their backs. So I'm asking here, if anyone knows what baby sleep advice was in the 70s?

I doubt there were rules. I’m a 70’s kid and I can’t sleep on my back either. I think it was face down. Loads of tucked in blankets and passively smoking.

I can remember my mum putting my little sister to sleep on her front. She would also put her for a nap in her pram in the back garden if the weather was warm enough.

My DH was a late 60's child and he happily sleeps/snores on his back.. I'm an 80's child and I can not sleep on my back

My three were born late 70s ..all late spring summer babies.
I kid you not
They all wore a vest
A nightie or babygrow
And then wrapped in a big pink blanket several times that was at least 4 feet long

Do t ask me why?
I thought babies were meant to be kept warm and swaddled
They would be-lifted out of their cot dripping with sweat

I don’t know how I didn’t Kill them...this was kept up till they were at least a 6 momthsto a year old
Oh and they went on their sides

Poor little buggers 😂

Don’t do what I did

Early eighties it was to put babies on their sides I think, not sure about the seventies.
The reasoning being that they wouldn't choke if they vomited.

I had mine in the early seventies. No swaddling and no heavy blankets. My first slept on his back and I was advised to put my second on her front, but she just rolled over so I went with what she wanted. They used to sleep in the garden under a cat net most mornings, but were never out of sight. My mother and MiL were still stuck with Truby King and some of my friends carried theirs everywhere in a sling but I went for a happy medium. 😊

Oh yes on their front as well.
I remember my 9 month old daughter was sick
Bless her she’d brought it all up and then just fell back to sleep without waking us.

When I brought her home from hospital I put a small pillow over her head when she was face down watched her fight it off and thought oh that’s good...she can survive
She went straight into her cot with the doors shut..cos that’s what I thought you did..
Wasn’t a bit of bother..bless her
I loved my babies to bits

I used to put an extra ounce of water in their formula in case they dehydrated...thank god they didn’t .

My aunt was born in 1979 and her parents were told to put her on her front. So there could be something in it!

There were rules...we were told never under any circumstances to put a baby down to sleep on its back as if it was sick it could choke. So mine slept on their sides (alternating left and right each time they were put down) or on their tummies. They did sleep well though.
And yes to lots of clothes! Houses were colder then though with usually just one fire in the living room. The usual outfit in winter for a newborn was:
Hand knitted wool vest
Terry nappy lined with a muslin square
Plastic pants
Knitted wool bootees
Brushed cotton gown
Knitted wool matinee jacket
Swaddled in a knitted wool shawl
And lots of blankets on the moses basket or pram - and this was indoors!

Born mid 70s, put down on my front. Still sleep on my front!

Glad I wasn’t alone then in what I inflicted on my poor kids

( also we had central heating lol)

my three were born between 1975 and 1982 and we were advised to put them to sleep on their front or sides with a roll behind them to prevent them choking if they were sick on their backs, SIDS wasnt as understood then as it is now and baby monitors were very expensive and not many of them around all of mine survived

I was born 1980 and my mum used to put me to sleep on my front. She did it with my siblings too in the 90's early 00's even though it wasn't the advice then, was what she was used to. I can't sleep on my back. It's front or side. I always worry I'll choke on my back and I don't feel secure.

In hospital I was told to put on alternate sides. At home they slept on their front. They were big babies and could lift their heads from birth and roll over within a few weeks. They were also very sicky babies so I thought they could choke on their vomit if sleeping on their backs.
We all slept in unheated bedrooms so babies needed lots of bedding.

On their front so if they were sick, they wouldn't drown on it. On their side if they wouldn't sleep - if they rolled onto their back, you were supposed to roll up a blanket and put it behind their back to keep them there, and if they still moved, you were supposed to swaddle them so they couldn't move.

As most houses only had heating downstairs, they had thick fleecy sleepsuits that zipped up to the neck or zip up sleeping bags that could be opened from the foot end, plus a thick terry nappy and a vest, socks, mittens and a knitted cap. And blankets. Lots of blankets.

Surely it was with a fag in your mouth and drink in the hand not holding the baby?

The "back to sleep" advice really only came into practice after the death of Ann Diamond's son in 1991. SIDS rates have dropped by 85% since then (according to Google, just looked it up) - what a fantastic campaign she started!

I was a child in the 70s and my mum taught me to put my dolls on their fronts to sleep, as that was what real babies need to stop them from chokingif they vomit

In the early 80s there was a lot of info about not putting babies on their fronts. You rolled a terry nappy and used it to stop the baby- who slept on her side- from rolling. But it was quite a new thing then. Grannies would ask why they weren’t on their tummies!

My fiancé is 30 and his mum was advised to put him to sleep on his side as a baby (not the 70s I know).

Front or side.

When I had my eldest (2006) dh's aunt visited, she was very shocked to see her sleeping on her back and not her side and challenged me. And then was offended when I told her that advice had changed.

I am sure big sister (74) was front and by 78 it was side.

I am convinced that part of the reason dd1 was such a good sleeper was that she was and still is happy to sleep on her back.

Apparently, "park the pram at the bottom of the garden and ignore the screaming", at least that's what my mum did!!

I was born in 1979 and my mum says she was told to put is down on our fronts. It would stop us choking and help bot to develop flattened heads. I prefer sleeping on my back.

Born in 1974, my mum says she was told to sleep me on my front so I didn't choke on my own sick

On side I believe, my mum did this with me snd all my sister born in the 70's as did all my aunties . I even remember my sister putting her son to sleep on his side and he was born 1990