Back to Sleep?

Specialties Pediatric

Published

Specializes in nurseline,med surg, PD.

I know babies are supposed to sleep on their backs, however I wonder if exceptions can be made. Is it safe for an 8 month old baby to sleep prone, since the baby is on a vent and has a pulse ox.? I figure if there is a problem the pulse ox will alarm. Thanks

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Is this a question about a patient you know, such as a family member? I ask since your bio lists you as "nurseline,medsurg,home health, correctio"as your experience.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

By 8 months, most healthy children are already rolling over, both front to back and back to front....

Don't forget that oximetry is a very fallible measure due to motion artifact and there's also a 10-15 second delay before a drop in sats is alarmed. It shouldn't be thought of as the most sensitive measure of a patient's state.

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I disagree with placing an 8 month old with pulse ox/ vent prone to sleep. Maybe a temporary position change is acceptable but you never want to place undue stress/strain at the trach site. I also agree with PP, the pulse ox is not always reliable. Good luck.

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