Ask a Nurse: Stomach or Back?

My mother insists that babies sleep better on their stomach, but my pediatrician says I should always place my baby on her back to sleep. Is this true? And what is the reason for this?

The American Academy of Pediatrics fully recommends always placing healthy infants on their backs to sleep. Although they don't understand the exact reason why, there is evidence to show that babies that sleep on their backs are at a lower risk of dying from SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). SIDS is the number-one cause of death in the United States for babies in the first year of life.