Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Prevention Tips From Baby Sleeps Safe

Having a baby is a wonderful experience that can be rewarding and challenging at the same time.  New parents must learn to master an array of skills from feeding and burping to changing diapers and getting their little one ready for bed.  While many parents are most preoccupied with activities that take place while their infant is awake, it is also very important to be vigilant while babies are asleep.  Parents must educate themselves about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of deaths in infants, as it claims the lives of more than 2,000 sleeping babies each year.

“Parents must be informed about the very real risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and the various precautions they can take to significantly impact their infant’s vulnerability to this tragic occurrence,” states Baby Sleeps Safe President Dr. Vicki Folds, Ed.D., a renowned child development expert with more than 35 years of hands-on and research experience.

What is SIDS?
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexplained death of a sleeping infant under one year of age.  In most situations, infants show no physical signs of distress and are perfectly healthy.  Ninety percent of all SIDS fatalities occur before an infant reaches six months of age.

What can you do for your baby?
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following measures that may help to prevent SIDS:

•  Place infants on their backs to sleep.  As sleeping preference is a learned behavior, parents should consider using products such as Baby Sleeps Safe, a two-piece infant safety product that keeps babies sleeping safely and securely on their backs, to ensure their baby is comfortable with the position.

•  Do not place your infant to sleep in your bed.  Instead, bring the crib into your room until your baby is at least six months old.

•  Make sure the crib has a firm mattress and avoid soft surfaces. Remove blankets, bumpers, toys or pillows.

•  Overheating an infant is a risk for SIDS.  Clothe your infant to keep him warm, but avoid too many layers or warm room temperatures.  The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests placing an oscillating fan in the room to help circulation and cooling of air.

•  Offer your infant a pacifier.  Studies have shown a lower rate of SIDS with infants who use pacifiers.

•  Breast-feed your infant whenever possible.  Natural milk decreases the likelihood of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, known to contribute to SIDS risk.

About Dr. Vicki Folds
Dr. Vicki Folds is president of Baby Sleeps Safe, an infant sleep safety product that keeps babies sleeping securely on their backs. She is one of the nation’s leading child development experts with 35 years of hands-on and research experience and several published childcare books including “Tray Tasking” and “Three Step Tray Tasking.”  Dr. Folds is currently on the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Consulting Editors Panel and reviews articles for its Young Children Journal as well as future books for publication.

Baby Sleeps Safe is committed to keeping babies safe and giving parents the most up-to-date information on SIDS prevention.  Please see the following article:

Fan in baby’s room may help prevent SIDS

By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY 10-6-08

Fans may reduce the risk of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, a new study shows.

Babies who slept in a room with a fan were 72% less likely to die from SIDS, according to a study released today from Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The study included interviews with the mothers of 185 infants who died from SIDS and the mothers of 312 other babies.

Fans offered even more protection to babies sleeping in warm rooms, where temperatures were over 69 degrees, according to the study. Although opening a window also appeared to reduce the risk of SIDS, authors say this finding could have been due to chance.

Although doctors don’t know exactly why fans seem to help, it’s possible that fans improve air circulation, preventing infants from rebreathing exhaled carbon dioxide, which can pool up in the gap between a baby’s face and the mattress, says author De-Kun Li, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist with Kaiser Permanente’s research division.

Because a baby’s neck muscles are weak, they may not be able to turn their heads to find fresh air, Li says.

That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies sleep on their backs. Deaths from SIDS have fallen by half since 1992, to a rate of about 0.5 deaths for every 1,000 live births. Pacifiers also seem to protect babies, Li says, perhaps because the handles prevent a child’s face from becoming pressed against the mattress.

Marian Willinger of the National Institutes of Health says that the new study, while intriguing, needs to be followed up by additional research. Putting babies to sleep on their backs is still the most important thing parents or caregivers can do to prevent SIDS, she says.

A study published Monday in Pediatrics, however, show that 26% of mothers of 3-month-olds don’t follow that advice. One-third of mothers shared a bed with their 3-month-old, another practice that may increase the risk of SIDS.

Parents who are young, with low incomes or low education are least likely to follow safe sleeping guidelines, the study says.

Daycare providers are even less likely to put infants on their backs, according to a second study in Pediatrics. About 20% of SIDS deaths occur when someone other than a parent is in charge.

In a study of 1,993 infants, only 51% of babies were put to sleep on their backs at the beginning of the study, in which researchers measured the effect of educating childcare providers about SIDS. The program provided modest improvement. Observers noted that 62% of babies were put on their backs at childcare centers that received the training, compared to 57% of babies at centers that didn’t receive the training.

Childcare providers are more likely to put babies on their backs if daycare centers have a written policy about safe sleeping, the study says. About half of states require childcare centers to put babies on their backs to sleep.

Study author Rachel Moon, a leading SIDS expert at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, says parents should talk to their childcare providers. “In our observations, parents go in and talk to the childcare provider about what creams to use for diaper rash much more than they talk about sleep position,” Moon says.