Parents concerned about baby sleeping on stomach

DEAR DOCTOR: We have always been careful to put our son to sleep on his back to prevent SIDS, but he has recently started turning over by himself, and we find him on his stomach. Should we prevent this? Should we put him on his back again?

DEAR READER:

You’re right that placing infants on their backs to sleep greatly reduces the rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of death in infants between 1 month and 1 year old. About 1,500 infants die of SIDS each year in the United States, with most of the cases occurring in babies younger than 6 months old.