Putting your baby to sleep on his back/stomach slogan?

[Wendy HS]

I have a question I've always wanted an answer to, but not sure where to ask. When did everyone decide that our babies are only safe sleeping on their backs? What research has been done to prove this and who did the research? They say that SIDS has decreased since they've implemented this, how do they know that is what helped and not something else? Is SIDS the only reason they drill you about putting your baby to sleep on his back or are there other reasons? I am just curious, don't anyone get mad at me, I have put all my babies to sleep on their backs, I was just wondering why they push it sooooo hard. I went into Babies R Us and wanted to buy a cute sleep sack for my son and all of them had back to bed stitched on the front of them, it kinda of ruined the cuteness for me. I really don't need to be told every night by my babies clothes to put him to sleep on his back, the hospital and peds scare you bad enough that anyone would be terrified to put their babies to sleep on their stomachs. Anyways just wondering if anyone has any input.

[sillysmile]

I also put my baby on her back, but my understanding is that while sleep position is one important factor (that has been shown in studies to decrease risk), there are other factors (like smoking) that are even more significant. I'm guessing that you don't hear about that as much because it's probably not a behavior that's as easy to modify with a slogan. Just my impression..