SIDS – Leading Cause Of Death Among Infants
Sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, is the leading cause of death of infants from one month to one year old. It is a very frightening syndrome because there are no clues at to what causes it and how to prevent it from happening. It happens without any warning signs to seemingly healthy children. There are absolutely no risk factors associated with SIDS and not one thing can be attributed to the cause. SIDS strikes children from any demographic, race, or wealth. Even genetics cannot be linked to why SIDS happens. The only thing researchers have are statistics. Out of all SIDS deaths, most occur when the infant is between 2 and 4 months of age. SIDS happens more so during cold weather months rather than warmer ones. Black infants are two times as likely and Native American babies are three times more likely to die of SIDS than Caucasian infants are. Also, more boys than girls die of SIDS.
There are several theories of the cause of SIDS, however none of them are scientifically backed up and are only based on statistical observations. Some researchers have theorized that infants who sleep on their stomach allows for pressure to be put on a child's jaw, therefore closing the airway and hindering breathing. Going with the stomach sleeping theory, some experts say this causes for the infant to re-breath the exhaled air allowing for the oxygen level to drop and the build up of carbon dioxide. With these theories in place, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all infants younger than one year be placed on their backs to sleep. Since this recommendation has taken place, the cases of SIDS has dropped by 50 percent.
Even though there is no real clue as to why SIDS strikes, there are many recommendations in place to possibly avoid the death of an infant in this manner. Placing the baby on a firm mattress without a pillow. No matter the age, a baby should never sleep in a water bed or other soft surface where he can get trapped. To prevent re-breathing, blankets, stuffed toys, or pillows should be avoided. Do not ever smoke around an infant and breast feed if possible. Some researcher believe that breastfeeding may help reduce the incidence of SIDS. Families that have suffered from the loss of an infant to SIDS should know that there are many support and alliance groups that help with understanding SIDS and bring about public awareness.
