Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

By Patrick L. Carolan, MD
Medical Director
Minnesota Sudden Infant Death Center
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota

What Can I Do to Help Lower the Risk of SIDS for My Baby?

Always place your baby on his or her back to sleep, even for naps. This is the safest sleep position for a healthy baby to reduce the risk of SIDS.

Place your baby on a firm mattress, such as in a safety-approved crib. Research has shown that placing a baby to sleep on soft mattresses, sofas, sofa cushions, waterbeds, sheepskins or other soft surfaces can increase the risk of SIDS.

Remove soft, fluffy and loose bedding and stuffed toys from your baby's sleep area. Make sure you keep all pillows, quilts, stuffed toys and other soft items away from your baby's sleep area.

Make sure your baby's face and head stay uncovered during sleep. Keep blankets and other coverings away from your baby's mouth and nose. Dressing the baby in sleep clothing will avoid having to use any covering over the baby.

Do not allow smoking around your baby. Don't smoke before or after the birth of your baby and make sure no one smokes around your baby.

Don't let your baby get too warm during sleep. Your baby's room should be at a temperature that is comfortable for an adult. Too many layers of clothing or blankets can overheat your baby.

Make sure everyone who cares for your baby knows to place your baby on his or her back to sleep. Talk to child care providers, grandparents, babysitters and all caregivers about SIDS risk.

Adapted from brochure "Babies Sleep Safest on Their Backs," published by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, October 2002, NIH pub number 02-7040, http://www.nichd.nih.gov/SIDS

References

• Carolan PL "SIDS" http://emedicine.com/PED/topic2171.htm
• American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome The changing concept of sudden infant death syndrome: diagnostic coding shifts, controversies regarding the sleeping environment, and new variables to consider in reducing risk. Pediatrics. 2005 Nov;116(5):1245-55.
• Paterson DS et al. Multiple serotonergic brainstem abnormalities in sudden infant death syndrome. JAMA. 2006 Nov 1;296(17):2124-32.
• Krous HF, et al. Aspiration of gastric contents in sudden infant death syndrome without cardiopulmonary resuscitation. J Pediatr. 2007 Mar;150(3):241-6.
• Kinney HC, et al. The development of the medullary serotonergic system in early human life. Auton Neurosci. 2007 Mar 30;132(1-2):81-102.
• Weese-Mayer DE, et al. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Review of implicated genetic factors. Am J Med Genet A. 2007 Mar 5.
• Filiano JJ, Kinney HC: A perspective on neuropathologic findings in victims of the sudden infant death syndrome: the triple-risk model. Biol Neonate 1994; 65(3-4): 194-7.
• Kahn A, Groswasser J, Sottiaux M, et al: Prone or supine body position and sleep characteristics in infants. Pediatrics 1993 Jun; 91(6): 1112-5.
• Kemp JS, Kowalski RM, Burch PM, et al: Unintentional suffocation by rebreathing: a death scene and physiologic investigation of a possible cause of sudden infant death. J Pediatr 1993 Jun; 122(6): 874-80.
• Towbin JA, Friedman RA: Prolongation of the QT interval and the sudden infant death syndrome. N Engl J Med 1998 Jun 11; 338(24): 1760-1.
• Kemp PM, Little BB, Bost RO, Dawson DB: Whole blood levels of dodecanoic acid, a routinely detectable forensic marker for a genetic disease often misdiagnosed as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): MCAD deficiency. Am J Forensic Med Pathol 1996 Mar; 17(1): 79-82.

Patrick L. Carolan, M.D., is Medical Director of Minnesota Sudden Infant Death Center, Children's Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota; Adjunct Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine and Family Practice, University of Minnesota Medical School.

Contact the Minnesota SIDS Center for more information at:

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
2525 Chicago Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-813-6285 or 1-800-732-3812