AVH BABY SAFETY MONTH TO FOCUS SPECIAL ATTENTION ON SLEEPING ON THE BACK.Byline: Daily News LANCASTER -- In honor of Baby Safety Month, Antelope Valley Hospital is educating new parents about the importance of the ``Back to Sleep'' campaign, encouraging parents to protect their new infants from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or crib death, sudden, unexpected, and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant under one year of age (usually between two weeks and eight months old). (SIDS SIDS sudden infant death syndrome. SIDS abbr. sudden infant death syndrome SIDS, n See syndrome, sudden infant death. ). ``For years, the recommended practice was to put a baby to sleep on its stomach,'' said Penny Stastny, public health nurse for Los Angeles County. ``With the latest research, we've proven that by having babies sleep fully on their backs, the number of SIDS cases has been reduced by 50 percent.'' According to the American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics ("AAP") is an organization of pediatricians, physicians trained to deal with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. Its motto is: "Dedicated to the Health of All Children. (AAP AAP - Association of American Publishers ), side sleeping is no longer recommended as an alternative to back sleeping. By having an infant sleep on their side, the chance of SIDS increases 6.5 times. The AAP also stresses the need to remove any soft objects or bedding from the sleeping environment. Any soft objects can cover the nose and mouth completely and not allow the infant to breathe. In addition, the October 2005 AAP policy emphasizes the dangers associated with ``co-sleeping'', in which the baby and mother sleep in the mother's bed. ``Co-rooming is OK, and sometimes makes it much easier for those midnight feedings,'' said Stastny. ``We strongly encourage mothers to have the bonding time with breast-feeding breast-feeding /breast-feed·ing/ (brest´fed?ing) nursing; the feeding of an infant at the mother's breast. or bottle-feeding their babies, but to reduce the risk of SIDS, it's best to have the babies sleep on their backs in their own cribs or bassinets.'' The hospital has been providing specialized training for its nurses on how babies should sleep, said Bonnie Daniel, vice president of nursing services at AVH AVH Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy AVH Association Valentin Haüy pour le bien des aveugles AVH Acute Viral Hepatitis AVH Alex Van Halen AVH Antelope Valley Hospital (Lancaster, California) AVH Auditory Verbal Hallucination . ``The best thing our nurses can do is to help prepare new mothers to go home and have their babies sleep safe and sound,'' Daniels said. |
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