The ability to place the infant in the prone position for longer periods of time and lack of mattress sagging promote infant development

Motor development depends upon infant and environmental factors. Since the observation in 1992 that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) may be associated with infants sleeping in the face down position (prone), parents have been urged to put their infants on their back (supine) while sleeping. Some researchers expressed concerns that the supine sleeping position seemed to delay the motor development of the infants.

A systematic review of the impact of sleep/play positions on infant motor development has shown that there is a transient delay in attainment of developmental milestones in healthy infants if they have not been exposed to a prone position. In very-low-weight preterm infants with and without neurological impairment, prone sleeping and playing were significantly and positively associated with motor development at all ages as measured by milestone acquisition and motor function.

The ability to place infants on the Nettress in the prone position for longer periods of time promotes infant development in healthy term, low-risk preterm and very-low-weight preterm infants. The taught sleep surface of the Nettress with lack of mattress flaccidity or "memory" provides an ideal developmental, orthopedic surface for infants.