Back to "Sleep"

Does anyones baby just love sleeping on their backs? I recall my nephew startling himself in his sleep as a newborn, arms and legs akimbo, then settling right back into a dreamland slumber without a peep. Although I have witnessed it, I have never had the pleasure of owning a kid that doesn't necessitate a snug swaddle, rocking, and seeing my mug every 2-3 hours around the clock. Would they have been better sleepers if I'd let them sleep with their butts up in the air like tiny turkeys?


Since going back to work, Bridget has become an increasingly finicky sleeper. She wants to be held, she doesn't want to be held, she cat naps, she won't let you put her down when she's awake without fussing. What happened to my chill, sleepy baby?

Returning to work has really illuminated how much we need to teach Bridget to sleep. After waking 5 times Sunday night and popping her eyes open every time you laid her down like a broken baby doll from days of yore, Brian decided it was time to cry it out and let her sleep on her belly.


Gasp. The horror. As a NICU nurse and a paranoid mom, I was conflicted. The rule in our home has been "once the baby can roll over on her own, she can sleep on her tummy." After all, I'm not going to stay awake all night just to flip her over. I understand the impact the Back-to-Sleep campaign has had on reducing SIDS. It's cut the rates in half. But half of what? You could reduce the incidence of something down from 2 in a million to 1 in a million and still accurately tout you have reduced it half. Frankly, I am not impressed.


The statistics are not as ridiculous as my example. The incidence of SIDS has been reduced from 1 in 1800 to 1 in 700 over the last 30 years (Dr. Kattwinkel is actually an attending on my unit), the same time parents were encouraged to put their babies to sleep on their backs. That is awesome news for all those babies who didn't die of SIDS, but suffocation rates have tripled (again with the vague...what does that statistic really mean). Having chatted with mom friends of newborns, I find co-sleeping to occur more and more. So, my question is this: which is more dangerous? co-sleeping or tummy sleeping?


In an ideal world, all babies would contentedly sleep for hours on their backs. They would not startle awake, they would not wake every 2 hours, they would not be raised by bleary-eyed, sleep deprived parents hunkered down in survival mode who are so exhausted it is all they can do to get through the day. We don't live in an ideal world. Parenting is about juggling and balancing and the big picture.


So what was I to do? Exist on 4 hours of chopped up sleep, wake up at 5:30 in the morning, spend twelve and a half hours attempting to provide safe care to preemie babies, then get home at 8:15 only to get 4 more choppy hours. I'm so sleep deprived and bombarded with new information at work that my brain is fuzzy and I'm on the verge of tears. So, I decided statistics be damned. I am too educated to believe that babies sleeping on their back is the only factor that has helped reduce the risk of SIDS. 30 years ago people smoked around their kids, cribs were full of bumpers and cushy blankets, babies were given rice cereal in bottles, and formula was what all the cool babies were drinking.


I will continue to hypocritically educate families to put their babies to sleep on their backs, since it is a factor we easily have control over. Much the same way fat medical professionals everywhere push heart healthy diets and exercise on their patients. But I will live on the edge and have confidence that Bridget will turn her head when the air gets stale.


As for Bridget, she slept from 8 pm last night and had to be woken up at 8:30 this morning to go to a doctors appointment. She only woke once at night to eat and I wonder how much longer she would have slept had I let her. When she is awake, she is so much happier and interactive. I'm happier and more interactive. I have patience for annoying kid behaviors (does anyone really feel relaxed when their kid whines or tells you their 30th knock-knock joke. I can only fake laugh so many times).


Thank you Brian, for teaching Bridget how to sleep. Bridget. Keep up the good work.