According to Glenn Doman, infants should sleep on their tummies. As a
new parent i know the risk of sids but why do i feel that his theory
makes more sense. In his book, "How to teach your baby to be
physically superb", he explains that tummy sleeping causing injury is
related to the "original error",infant is carried in a temp of 100
degrees farenheight and born into a temp of 70 which is suitable for
us. that is the original error. "to keep him form turning  blue in a
temp 30 degrees cooler we...we must wrap him up very warmly in
clothing and blankets...now we must keep him upside down so that we
can see his face in order to make sure he dosent smother..." and so we
can see if he is breathing. Glenn Doman goes on to describe that on
his belly, babys tummy will be protected by the floor and back will be
protected by his bony skeleton, the way nature intended. on babies
tummy all those random arm and leg movements become propulsive
movements to enable him to crawl earlier, which is essential in
developing medulla usage in the brain and therefore, increasing the
mobility IQ of any infant. so what exactly should i believe? because
SIDS studies seem to make it out to be a catch all for parents errors.
an explanation. it was carbon dioxide build up, it was smothering, it
was overheating and dehydration, therefore it is SIDS. so then is it
really because of tummy sleeping, or is it because of other things? Is
there any new conclusive evidence that tummy sleeping is a no no. i
have heard of it causing neck pain and head aches on this site, but
when i looked at the reference website, it was an adult matress
company, and babies in physiology are much different that adults. Can
i keep my baby on his tummy if i get rid of all the bedding, keep him
in a cool place, and trust my insticts. or will i be seriously risking
death  regardless of these measures. i am kind of torn. but just
like Glenn Doman explains in his book, i feel sort of rediculous
putting him on his back, where he feels helpless and vunerable, and
his mobility means nothing.  where i am the arrogant parent, enforcing
that he can only experience his body a few times a day supervised, and
that he is just
a baby so therefore he cant possibly know what to do with it yet, so
his body movements are useless anyway.
exactly how many deaths are related to tummy sleeping per year, and
exactly how many of those deaths are related to common errors such as
exessive bedding or smothering, or overheating? Is there anyone out
there that leans toward the dark side?

For thousands of years, certain populations have not put babies to
sleep on their stomachs because they felt it could cause death. The
cause of SIDS is complicated and not fully understood, however,
studies show significantly higher risk of SIDS if:

* The baby is too warm. 71 degrees or less is best.

* The baby is too comfortable. This may seem strange, but preterm
infants readily show that when they are (for example) held by their
parents, they are more likely to stop breathing.

* They get too much carbon dioxide...Babies may not turn their heads for fresh air.

When an infant sleeps on her tummy, she may be too cozy and she may
get too much carbon dioxide. At least that's the theory on why
sleeping on the tummy significantly raises the risks of SIDS.

From what I can tell, Glenn Doman doesn't have peer-reviewed studies
to back up his claims. On the other hand, there are piles of
peer-reviewed studies that show tummy sleeping increases the risk of
SIDS. Tummy sleeping isn't the only key to the SIDS puzzle, but at
this time, evidence strongly supports the argument that it contributes
to infant death.

You may find the following helpful:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1674061

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/4/613

and many more studies, here:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=SIDS+sleeping&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1

Kriswrite

If you put your baby on his/her stomach, and he/she dies of SIDS, your
life will be hell as long as you live.

Both my kids slept on their tummies when they were babies, and they
are alive today and grown.

I know the current "safe trend" is to put baby on her back, but I'd
worry more in case of vomit or spit up.

Steph53

A recent study recently published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association shows that SIDS may be due in part from
abnormalities in the baby's brain stem.

CNN news report:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/10/31/sids.research.ap/index.html

National Institue of Health's report:
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/oct2006/nichd-31.htm

If you read up on SIDS, many studies are inconclusive.  SIDS is a
catch all syndrome because people need an excuse as to why their child
has died.  No, I am not saying that SIDS does not exsist, I am just
saying that sometimes nature happens.  It is okay if an older person
dies in their sleep, but not for babies?  In a span of 18 months,
between the births of my first 2 sons, SIDS specialists found that
babies weren't to sleep on their backs anymore, but on their sides. 
All three of my children and myself were stomach sleepers and we are
all alive and well.
I put all three of my sons in the bed with me as infants.  I put a
pillow between their father and I and the babes all slept on my chest.
 Studies show that an infant's breathing and heartbeat are better
because they adjust to the mother's.  This information can be found on
Dr. Sears' books and websites.  WWW.askdrsears.com.  Co-sleeping is a
wonderful experience to share with your baby.  However, if you do
co-sleep it is highly advisable to be under the influence with your
infant in the bed.

>> However, if you do co-sleep it is highly advisable to be 
>> under the influence with your infant in the bed.

Surely you mean that it is advisable NOT to be under the influence (of
alcohol or drugs) when you have an infant in your bed.

A Potential Biological Cause For Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=55842

Besides that, the National Institute of Health has a powerful argument
for putting babies to sleep on their backs: SIDS related deaths have
decreased 50% in 13 years!

SIDS: "Back to Sleep" Campaign
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/
..."The statement recommended that all healthy infants be placed on
their backs to sleep in order to reduce the risks of SIDS. Shortly
thereafter, the NICHD joined with the AAP, the SIDS Alliance (now
First Candle/ SIDS Alliance), the Association of SIDS and Infant
Mortality Programs, and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of HRSA
to launch the Back to Sleep campaign to help inform all parents and
infant care givers about the importance of back sleeping. Since then,
the percentage of infants placed on their backs to sleep has increased
dramatically, and the rates of SIDS have declined by more than 50
percent..."

One more link:

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): Risk Factors
http://www.cdc.gov/SIDS/riskfactors.htm
HOME: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): Home

Whoops!  It's these folks:

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, not the
National Institute of Health.