Babies Sleep with Their Arms Up? Is it Normal?

Baby has many different sleeping positions. Baby in a deeper sleep allows sneak away breathing a satisfying sigh of relief. 

Ø  Raising the arms up while sleeping has other reasons:

§  Your baby is covered by the warm feeling. It tends to raise their arms up as comfortable as possible. This occurrence helps the circulation of air around easier as well as creates the relaxing feeling making your baby's deep sleep fasten.

§  The baby can’t bust out of this swaddle, so he stays wrapped all night.

§  He can move his arms and hands by his face, which he prefers. If it helps him feel soothed.

Ø  Some sleeping practices that Could Lead to Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) includes both SIDS and fatal sleeping accidents. Here are a few practices that could lead to SUDI:

§  Making the baby sleep on the stomach or side

§  Putting the baby to sleep on soft surfaces such as a mattress, sofa, water bed, pillow, or lamb’s wool.

Ø  The Good and Bad Positions for A Baby to Sleep:

It is essential to learn about the safe and unsafe sleeping positions for a baby to deal with the above risks:

o   Good Position:

·         Sleep-On-Back

Healthy babies should be placed on their backs for naps, short periods of rest, and sleep at night.

‘Sleep on the back’ position was found to lessen the SIDS risk in babies as it keeps airways open.

NICHD labelled this as the best sleeping position for babies.

o   Bad Position:

§  It is unsafe for babies to sleep on the side.This may increase the risk of SIDS because baby end up on the tummy

Ø  Risks Involved In ‘Sleep On Back’ Position:

It could lead to ‘positional plagiocephaly’

But shape will become normal by the time they turn one year and rarely requires any treatment.

Simple repositions techniques can be employed to avoid such conditions. They include:

§  Increasing ‘tummy time’ of the baby when awake

§  Making the baby rest on the other side of the head rather than the flattened side.

§  Changing the direction of the baby in the crib.

The danger of vomiting was the most important argument for making the baby to sleep on its stomach, as doctors used to believe that it would be dangerous if the baby vomit while made to sleep on its back.

They used to think that babies may choke due to lack of sufficient strength to turn the head.

What kind of position does your baby sleep? Share us your story! – “22nd World Congress on Pediatrics, Neonatology & Primary Care”