With the release last fall of the AAP’s revised guidelines on safe sleep, there has been quite a bit of discussion on the practicality of the recommendations all put in place based on evidence-based data to reduce the incidence of sudden unexpected death in infants. So if parents know of these guidelines, what actually happens in the home? Colson et al. (10.1542/peds.2017-0596) addressed this issue by surveying mothers of 2-6 month olds from 32 US hospitals in regard to their choice of infant sleeping position –both in regard to intent and in reality. Although ¾ of the almost 3300 mothers surveyed said they placed their infants on their backs for sleep, less than half of these said they exclusively did so. Just who is still placing their infants prone all the time or some of the time? The study provides some answers to this question and raises some opportunities for educational interventions targeted to a particular type of survey respondent. To further highlight these opportunities, there is an accompanying commentary from Drs. Michael Goodstein and Barbara Ostfield (10.1542/peds.2017-2068) that should keep you wide awake and send you eagerly back to the drawing board so more babies are placed on their back to sleep.
