Is it okay for a baby to always sleep on their side?
Sep 20, 2024
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Zhou Xiaofeng
Introduction
Lying on the side during sleep can help prevent babies from choking on milk, developing a flattened head, or facial asymmetry, offering certain benefits. However, it may also carry some risks, such as putting pressure on the heart and affecting head shape. When lying on their side, if a baby spits up milk, the liquid can easily drain from the corner of the mouth instead of flowing back into the throat and accidentally entering the airway, thereby reducing the risk of coughing, choking, and aspiration pneumonia.
Babies sleeping on their side can help prevent choking, head flattening, and facial asymmetry, offering certain benefits. However, prolonged side-sleeping may also exert pressure on the heart and affect head shape, posing some potential drawbacks. Parents are advised to help babies get accustomed to various sleeping positions and avoid maintaining the same posture for extended periods.
When lying on their side, if a baby spits up milk, the liquid can easily drain from the corner of the mouth rather than flowing backward into the airway, reducing the risk of choking, coughing, and aspiration pneumonia. Regularly alternating between left and right side-sleeping can prevent skull deformation (plagiocephaly) and facial asymmetry caused by consistently favoring one side.
Side-sleeping causes the spine to curve slightly, with shoulders leaning forward and legs bent—this position promotes smooth blood circulation and helps babies sleep more soundly.
However, long-term side-sleeping may potentially compress the heart, which could negatively impact healthy cardiac development.
Parents are encouraged to assist babies in adjusting their sleeping positions, alternating between supine (on the back) and side-sleeping, among others, to reduce physical strain and discomfort by avoiding prolonged time in any single posture.
