A community-based survey of infant sleep position

Objective. To determine prevalent infant sleep positions before and after the American Academy of Pediatrics position statement of 1992 and to identify determinants of sleep position. Method. Design: cross-sectional survey. Setting: private and hospital-sponsored general pediatric offices. Participants: parents of infants younger than 7 months of age. Results. Eight hundred fifty-two care givers completed surveys during the 5-week study. Fifty-four percent of the study infants were put to sleep in the prone position. In 416 families with more than one child, however, 75% of the youngest siblings had been put to sleep in the prone position at the same age. Gender, race, family income, maternal smoking, and birth weight were not associated with choice of sleep position. Conclusions. There has been a change in infant sleep positioning in the desired direction since the American Academy of Pediatrics statement. However, 54% of the study infants were still being put to sleep prone.