Sleep Positioners

The FDA is calling sleep positioners unsafe. This article says they are to keep a baby on his/her back, but I used it to prevent a flat head. My second child had to wear a helmet because he always tilted his head to the right when he slept. His head became lopsided. Anyway, my new baby did start to scoot down on the sleep positioner as he got a little older and his face would be dangerously close to the little side pillows. That is when I stopped using it. I just don't think you can use them for very long. However, if you use them all the time, the baby may get used to it and won't sleep without it. That's a problem! Did you use a sleep positioner? Do you think they are safe?

FROM U.S. NEWS/HEALTH BUZZ:

Government Calls Infant Sleep Devices "Dangerous," Warns Against Use

Some anxious parents rely on devices to keep sleeping babies on their backs, a position which experts say protects against sudden infant death syndrome. But these so-called sleep positioners are "dangerous and unnecessary," and should no longer be used because they pose a suffocation risk, the government warned today. In the past 13 years, sleep positioners have caused 12 infants—all between 1 and 4 months of age—to suffocate, according to a statement issued by the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Sleep positioners are typically sold as flat or inclined mats with side bolsters, designed to hold infants in one spot. In most cases, suffocation occurred after the child rolled from a side position to a stomach position, or became trapped between the device and the side of a crib or bassinet. The agencies say they've received dozens of reports about infants who were placed in sleep positioners and were later found in potentially dangerous positions, either within or next to the device. The FDA has never approved sleep positioners as safe.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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