SIDS and tummy sleeping

[Ruth21]

A friend who knows about these things tells me that the advice in France and Spain is always to put babies to sleep on their tummies--ie the complete opposite to here. A US friend says they advise back sleeping in the States. What advice is given in other countries? The international mumsnet community should be able to supply information on a good selection of places And have any studies been done on comparative SIDS rates in places with different advice? Are there more deaths in France than in the UK?

I find all the differences in advice to parents and pregnant women in different places fascinating for it's own sake, and have also (as noted in some other threads) a particular interest in this topic, as I've discovered that dd sleeps much longer when put to sleep on her tummy, but am too anxious to do this very much. Would love it if someone reassured me that back-sleeping was just a quaint British practice, but fear that this one really is based on evidence ...

ruth, dunno about the international stats, but I recently had a discussion about this with a friend - if baby is on her back then the startle reflex will send her arms shooting out, back onto the mattress & probably wake her up..on her tum this won't happen. this might be why 'our' mums say we slept really well

Hi, Ruth. My first 3 all slept on their tummies - pre the Back to Sleep campaign. (dd1 was born in the US 22 years ago and they didn't recommend back sleeping then either.) I agree with bundle about them sleeping more soundly because they don't startle awake.

Overheating is one of the main reasons tummy-sleeping is considered less safe, particularly for newborns (can't kick covers off and can't cool themselves as well either?). Possibly the cultural thing here was always to cover them too warmly as well (eg duvets for newborns in the bad old days) and that may be different in other countries - aren't grobags a Continental thing? I should think your dd, in normal day or night clothes and a grobag, would be fine sleeping on her tummy, and once they can roll over many babies choose to sleep that way and you can't stop them.

Both Australia and Germany recommend back sleeping. My DS started sleeping on his tummy from when he could rollover. My MW said it was OK. Since he started doing it himself I have put him to bed on his tummy, but, now with his eczema, I think sleeping on his tummy encourages him to rub his face on the sheets - not sure what to do. Sleep worse on his back, or eczema worse on his front?

International Figures -- but I can't understand them, myself! For instance, under Incidence per 1000 births, when they say "22.2 31" do they mean between 22.2 & 31, or something else? It seems to me like the chart implies that SIDS rates are marginally higher in France than in England & Wales.

There is at least one Mumsnetter living in Spain, would be interesting to hear what she was advised about tummy sleeping; I wonder if your friend is mistaken, Ruth21.

I was told to put dd on her back/side at Marbella Hospital, but was told to put ds on his belly in Granada.

As it goes, a lot of the advice given in Spain is old-fashioned, although some midwives seem more up to date than others.

There are some international stats here (you may have to wait a while as its a pdf doc) but I've never seen any stats for Spain.

Zebra - looks like your stats are from the same source as mine, but they've cocked up the per thousand births figure!

or maybe the second figure is the ranking? (ie Argentina has 22.1 per thousand, which puts it 31st)

Ooh! SP. You're clever.

My dd wouldn't sleep on her back for love or money, too insecure even when wrapped, put her on her tummy she slept for hours from day 7.
You have to weigh it up in your head I think, as soon as babies can roll they choose their tummies for the most part...

In Sweden the advice is to put babies on their backs. I read somewhere that there has been a reduction of 75% in cot death since people started to put their babies on their backs. When my babies turned to sleep on the tummy, I put them in a babysafe-bag and strapped them down until they were 10 months! A bit over the top maybe, but just in case....

I think front sleeping came about when it was noticed that prem babies did better on their fronts. It was taken to mean that all babies should sleep on their fronts but studies in New Zealand showed that it was much safer to back sleep. My older children were born at the height of the front sleeping craze. But I didn't front sleep them because I had a very old-fashioned midwife who was very unhappy with the idea. All those years later, she turned out to be correct.

Hmm, it seems the back-sleeping advice is more universal than I thought. I even had it wrong about the French babies--apparently they sleep on their sides, not their tummies. Maybe we will just co-sleep until dd can roll over and then I can let her put herself on her tummy and have a clear conscience ...

My DS was a premmie (born in UK) and had some breathing problems. The advice was to put him sleeping on his front to aid his breathing. When he eventually was released from hospital, I was still advised to put him sleeping on his front or his left side but I was also given a heart monitor. I must admit that the heart monitor would sometimes alarm, scare me rigid and wake DS. In all instances it had just become dislodged. I dispensed with it's services at about 5 months and DS continued to sleep on his front or left side. I did feel a little irresponsible given the current dictate about SIDS and children sleeping on their back but I was also taking into account DS's health problems.

I have to say I was a bad mum with both DS's. DS1 would never settle properly when he was a baby and we found (my mate and I as her DD was the same) that by putting them on their tummies they slept better. DS2 was a premmie and at the start did sleep on his back (some of the time he slept in his car seat rocker) but by the time he moved from moses basket into cot he just wouldn't settle on his back.

Yes it was a big risk to take, and maybe unfair of me to put their life at risk, but there was no chance of them overheating. It was the same when DS1 first came home with me from hospital, I had him sleeping in beside me and now look what they say about that