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Benefits for back-sleeping babies   Practice not only prevents SIDS, but also ear infections   A new study found that babies put down to sleep on their backs were less likely than stomach sleepers to develop ear infections, fever, stuffy nose, or to visit the doctor.     WASHINGTON, May 12 —  Putting babies to sleep on their backs not only prevents crib death, or sudden infant death syndrome, but ear infections as well, U.S. doctors reported Monday.

SOME WORRIED parents have resisted the “back to sleep” campaigns in the United States, Britain, Australia and other countries, fearing small infants left on their backs could choke. But the campaigns have reduced the incidence of SIDS by more than 40 percent.

Monday’s study, published in the Archives Of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found no adverse effects from keeping infants on their backs.

“Placing infants to sleep on their backs not only reduces their risk of sudden infant death syndrome, but also appears to reduce the risk for fever, stuffy nose, and ear infections,” said Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which helped fund the study.

“Otitis media (ear infection) causes suffering in infants and young children, costs the American public an estimated $5 billion per year, and results in overuse of antibiotics,” Alexander added in a statement.

Dr. Carl Hunt of the Medical College of Ohio and colleagues analyzed information gathered in 1995 from 3,733 U.S. infants. The mothers were asked whether the babies were put to sleep on their stomachs, backs or sides.

At 1, 3, and 6 months of age the mothers were asked about fever, cough, wheezing, stuffy nose, breathing trouble, sleeping problems and vomiting.

No infants choked on their own vomit or spit-up and the babies put down on their backs were less likely than stomach sleepers to develop fever or a stuffy nose, or to visit the doctor.

Hunt, who now heads the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, was not sure why the back sleepers overall had fewer symptoms of illness.

© 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

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