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American Morning
House Call: Study: Back-Sleep Babies had Fewer Fevers, Ear Infections
Aired May 13, 2003 - 07:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Young parents, this is one is for you. Despite evidence that putting babies to sleep on their backs can help prevent sudden infant death syndrome, some parents still resist the practice. But now there is new research that might convince even the most skeptical of holdouts.
Making a "House Call" this hour, our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at CNN Center.
Sanjay -- good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Yes, it's pretty widely accepted now that putting a baby on their back to sleep helps reduce the risk of SIDS, up to 40 percent in some cases. But there's also been concern amongst many people, caregivers primarily, that putting the baby on their back to sleep might also increase the risk of spitting up and possibly choking on their vomit.
So actually, researchers decided to study this very issue and looked at about 3,700 babies and found that not only that putting a baby on their back to sleep reduced the risk of SIDS, it also reduced the risk of fevers, runny noses and ear infections.
Now, this is important. In addition to the big concern about possibly spitting up and choking, they found no increase in that, nor did they find any increase in other sorts of respiratory problems.
This was a very large study that was done, Daryn. Again, over 3,700 kids. It was a survey study of the mothers, not the infants. And they actually asked mothers about the baby's sleeping position. They surveyed them at 1, 3 and 6 months, and found the results that we just talked about.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has been chanting the mantra, "back to sleep," reminding parents, caregivers to put their babies on their back to sleep since 1992. This is now further evidence to support that. The concerns that have been out there for so long about the possible risks of putting a baby on their back to sleep have been somewhat cleared up by this particular study -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Back to sleep, it makes it real easy to remember. Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: OK. KAGAN: We'll get more health news from you in the next hour.
GUPTA: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Infections>
Aired May 13, 2003 - 07:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Young parents, this is one is for you. Despite evidence that putting babies to sleep on their backs can help prevent sudden infant death syndrome, some parents still resist the practice. But now there is new research that might convince even the most skeptical of holdouts.
Making a "House Call" this hour, our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at CNN Center.
Sanjay -- good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Yes, it's pretty widely accepted now that putting a baby on their back to sleep helps reduce the risk of SIDS, up to 40 percent in some cases. But there's also been concern amongst many people, caregivers primarily, that putting the baby on their back to sleep might also increase the risk of spitting up and possibly choking on their vomit.
So actually, researchers decided to study this very issue and looked at about 3,700 babies and found that not only that putting a baby on their back to sleep reduced the risk of SIDS, it also reduced the risk of fevers, runny noses and ear infections.
Now, this is important. In addition to the big concern about possibly spitting up and choking, they found no increase in that, nor did they find any increase in other sorts of respiratory problems.
This was a very large study that was done, Daryn. Again, over 3,700 kids. It was a survey study of the mothers, not the infants. And they actually asked mothers about the baby's sleeping position. They surveyed them at 1, 3 and 6 months, and found the results that we just talked about.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has been chanting the mantra, "back to sleep," reminding parents, caregivers to put their babies on their back to sleep since 1992. This is now further evidence to support that. The concerns that have been out there for so long about the possible risks of putting a baby on their back to sleep have been somewhat cleared up by this particular study -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Back to sleep, it makes it real easy to remember. Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: OK. KAGAN: We'll get more health news from you in the next hour.
GUPTA: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Infections>
