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How to Prevent SIDS
It was a Sunday night in June 2007, in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. Lisa DeMarco finished nursing 3-week-old Andrew and went to bed. At 10 p.m., her husband, Frank, tried to give Andrew a bottle of pumped breast milk, as had been their custom. But Andrew was uncharacteristically fussy and didn't take it until 1 a.m. On most nights, Frank would then place him in his bassinet in the master bedroom. But this evening, saddened by news that his grandmother had died and trying to calm the baby, Frank fell asleep on the couch holding Andrew against his chest.
The next thing anyone remembers, it was 5 a.m. Lisa ran down the stairs because Andrew hadn't woken up for his 4 a.m. meal. Frank was screaming that Andrew felt lifeless and cold. Lisa immediately began giving Andrew CPR and paramedics arrived within minutes, but it was too late: The baby was a victim of sudden infant death syndrome.
Between 1984 and 2004, the rate of SIDS, the diagnosis given when a healthy child suddenly dies before his first birthday, dropped from one in 700 babies to one in 1,800. This was mainly the result of an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) campaign urging parents to put infants to sleep on their back. A small number of babies are thought to be unable to arouse from sleep normally and become deprived of oxygen when they rebreathe too much carbon dioxide. This is more likely when babies sleep on their stomach and exhaled carbon dioxide gets trapped near their face, so experts recommend that they sleep face up.
However, new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the SIDS rate has remained fairly stable in the last few years. Even more worrisome, the number of infant deaths attributable to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (when something is found over the baby's face or around his neck) tripled between 1996 and 2004. The result of these combined trends: Babies are dying unexpectedly in their sleep at a rate similar to that of 1998.
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lndaugherty1: We are not like other mammals. We are humans that should be able to take precautions to protect our children. Yes, SIDS is still a risk for every baby but why take a chance by putting your child in the bed with you. That reasoning is moronic at best. It isnt fear mongering, it is common sense.
4/26/2012 12:02:25 AM Report AbusePublic education is crucial. However, it does not seem that SIDS and suffocation are the same. My Grandson put a healthy baby back to sleep after a 5am feeding (he was on his back in his uncluttered crib), and at ~9am he was found lifeless. The young parents suffered immeasurably with this loss. Further research needs to be conducted on physiological risk that may be mitigatable.
3/18/2012 12:52:58 PM Report AbuseGreat article. Very informative and easy to understand. I will definitely be passing this information to everyone who has a baby under the age of 1!
1/11/2012 11:31:24 AM Report AbuseI'm pregnant with my second child, and it scares me now, it's been 6 years since my first was born! I honestly forgot all these things! I feel like I'm starting new!
12/19/2011 03:08:29 AM Report AbuseI lost my first daughter to SIDS in 2006. She was found with blood coming out of her nose. Most all cases of SIDS that I have read about had the same signs. We are still searching for answers. You can prevent suffocation and smothering by following a lot of the information given, but I myself don't think you can prevent SIDS. It is something in the brain that researchers really haven't figured out.
12/15/2011 07:46:11 PM Report AbuseThe flawed serotonin study was based on autopsy reports, so the serotonin levels in the babies who died of SIDS were unknown. Was the serotonin level normal and then some environmental issue caused it to drop. The toxic gas study is proven successful 100% of the time. The non-profit No More SIDS Foundation at their website www.nomoresids.org explains the toxic gas explanation for SIDS.
12/15/2011 01:22:39 PM Report AbuseSIDS and suffocation death are not the same!!! Unfortunately suffocation is more likely to occur with bed sharing, SIDS is less likely. Prevention of both issues is of course extremely important but lumping them together is not right.
12/15/2011 01:02:11 PM Report AbuseI agree with the woman who said that mammals all over the world including humans sleep with there young, accidents have happen but an accident can happen while doing just about anything. There are countries that have found a correlation between immunizations and SIDS. Those countries have banned immunizations untill the age of 2 and have no more SIDS.
10/18/2011 08:12:27 PM Report AbuseTO : lndaugherty1 You're wrong! I had a friend who def. did not use drugs or alcohol and had the same thing happen to her. So you may need to get out a little more. Accidents do happen and not everyone uses drugs and alcohol. Either way, SIDS is a very sad thing regardless of how it happens.
8/6/2011 02:36:16 PM Report AbuseI put my grandson in his carseat to go shopping, a 10 minute trip, he was not sleeping, I had just gave him a bath and fed him, his parents do not drink or smoke or take drugs. By the time I got to the grocery store, he had blood comming out of his nose, I had the people at the store call the ambulance and an autopsy said it was sids...
6/17/2011 09:28:50 PM Report AbuseI have never in my life heard of a case in which a baby was suffocated by their parents that did not involve drugs or alcohol. Articles like these are just RIDICULOUS. Mammals all over the world, including humans, sleep with their young, and they do not have these so-called problems. SIDS is not up because parents are sleeping with their babies and I will not fall prey to this fear mongering. There is no safer place in the world for my baby to sleep than with his mother.
5/28/2011 10:48:33 AM Report Abusethis is great info but the thought scares me to death!!! especially the caregivers part!!!
3/21/2011 12:54:13 AM Report Abuseevery mother should be educated about sid and co-sleeping in order to keep infants safe.
2/8/2011 03:52:03 PM Report AbuseThis is something that everyone need to know.
8/21/2010 04:40:07 PM Report AbuseThe loose objects should be kept OUT of the crib, not in.
1/4/2010 07:17:38 PM Report AbuseDon't think this just wont happen to me. By sleeping on the back it reduces the risk by 60+%. Raising funds for public awareness and leading research is real. Visit www.littlecypress.org to order a chefs line of cuisine that supports the frank andrew fund for sids of the cjfoundation. You can also donate direct to www.cjsids.org
12/16/2009 09:01:55 PM Report AbuseGood article. Had very good information.
12/16/2009 06:43:11 PM Report Abuse