"...and my kids all turned out fine."

I really hate it when people say that. People tell you that a lot as a parent, especially now that most new parents have access to all of the AAP recommendations on safety. I find that many times, parents who think they have "been around the block" like to tell you how useless your safety precautions are. I have always put Violet to sleep on her back, because it is supposed to reduce the risk of suffocation and death. And people will say, "Oh, my kids all slept on their tummies, and they turned out fine. My kids had bumpers in their cribs and they turned out fine. My babies ate honey and they turned out fine." And it makes me wonder if people really understand statistics. Yes, your kids probably turned out fine. But the fact is, when you're talking about something like SIDS, the chance of it actually happening are less than 1%, even if you do everything wrong. You could put your baby on its belly and surround it with pillows every night and chances are he will still be alive on his first birthday. But that doesn't mean that preventative measures don't decrease that risk even further. I would rather have a back-sleeping baby with a .5% risk of death than a tummy-sleeping baby with a 1% risk of death, even if the risk is low either way. (By the way, I just made up those statistics, but you get the point.) I understand, some babies sleep better on their bellies. If you decide that getting a few more hours of sleep is worth taking that small risk, then I'm not here to judge. After all, the AAP doesn't raise your child, you do. But please, don't pretend that the fact that your baby is still alive in the morning is proof that the AAP recommendations are all bogus. Observation of your own child does NOT constitute a scientific study.