SIDS Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) is a horrible disease that takes the life of a beautiful infant. But why does this happen? Can you do things to prevent it? I am going to explain what is known about SIDS and what we as parent's can do to hopefully prevent this from happening to our own precious infant.

In most situations a parent goes to check on their supposedly sleeping infant to find him or her dead. This a worse tragedy then parents can face leaving them with extreme sadness and since medicine cannot explain why this happened they often blame themselves, God or someone else. Their lives and those around them are changed forever.

Since 1983, the rate of SIDS has fallen by over 50 percent. Sadly, there are still about 2,500 deaths per year in the United States and thousands more throughout the world. However, there are things that can be done to reduce the risk of SIDS.

Do not smoke, use cocaine, or use heroin. Tobacco, cocaine, or heroin use during pregnancy increases the infant's risk for SIDS. Wait at least one year between the birth of a child and the next pregnancy. The shorter the time between pregnancies the higher the SIDS rate becomes. Place infants to sleep on their backs, even though infants may sleep more soundly on their stomachs. Infants who sleep on their stomachs and sides have a higher rate of SIDS than infants who sleep on their backs. Place infants to sleep in a baby bed with a firm mattress. There should be nothing in the bed but the baby - no covering, no pillows, no bumper pads and no toys. Soft mattresses and heavy covering are associated with the risk for SIDS. Avoid exposing the infant to tobacco smoke. Don't have your infant in the same house or car with someone who is smoking. The greater the exposure to tobacco smoke, the greater the risk of SIDS. Consider using home monitoring systems (apnea/bradycardia monitors) in an attempt to prevent sudden death in high-risk infants.