Reducing Your Baby’s Risks for SIDS
Back to Sleep guidelines help prevent sudden infant death syndrome
An interview with Jennifer Daru, M.D.,
chief, pediatric hospital medicine
Nothing is more tragic than the death of an infant—especially
if it could have been prevented. That’s why the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
launched its Back to Sleep campaign in 1994 to help reduce
the risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
“Since the Back to Sleep campaign started, the number of SIDS deaths
has been cut in half,” says Jennifer Daru, M.D., a pediatric hospitalist
and chief of pediatric hospital medicine at California Pacific Medical
Center. “Yet SIDS is still one of the leading causes of death for infants
up to age 1, claiming approximately 2,300 infants in the U.S. every
year. That’s about one out of every 2,000 births. Most SIDS deaths
occur between ages 2 months and 4 months.”
No Known Cause
The American Academy of Pediatrics
defines SIDS as “the sudden
death of an infant younger than 1
year of age that remains unexplained
after a thorough case investigation,
including performance of a complete
autopsy, examination of the death
scene and review of the clinical
history.”
 Jennifer Daru, M.D.,
Chief, Pediatric
Hospital Medicine “We don’t know what causes
SIDS, although there are various
theories about it being related to an
immature respiratory system or to
problems in the part of the brain
stem that helps regulate functions
such as heart rate, breathing and
body temperature. There also may be
associations with infants who have
prolonged QT syndrome,” Daru says.
“We also don’t know why African-American babies are twice as likely
to die of SIDS as Caucasian babies or
why American Indian babies are three
times as likely to die of SIDS. What
we do know is that babies who sleep
on their back are less likely to die of
SIDS.” Other risk factors include
being male, being born prematurely or
during the winter months, and
tobacco exposure.
Here are guidelines to follow:
- Place your baby on a firm sleeping
surface—never on a pillow or other
soft surface.
- Keep soft objects, toys and loose
bedding out of the baby’s sleep
area.
- Avoid letting your baby overheat
during sleep.
- Consider using a pacifier when putting
the baby to sleep. If you’re
breastfeeding, wait until the baby is
1 month old or is used to
breastfeeding.
- Don’t use sleep positioners to prop
your baby up on his or her side.
Although they are marketed as
anti-SIDS devices, there is no evidence
they are effective or safe.
- Electronic breathing monitors do
not decrease SIDS risk and should
be avoided.
Will a Fan Help?
Daru notes that a study published in
the October 2008 Archives of Pediatric
Adolescent Medicine indicated that
using a fan in the room where a baby
sleeps might help reduce the incidence
of SIDS. “The researchers found that
infants who slept in rooms with fans
had a 72 percent lower risk of SIDS,”
she says. “That finding may or may
not coincide with the recommendation
to avoid letting your baby overheat
during sleep. It’s important to note
that this was just one small study,
and using a fan is not a hard-and-fast
recommendation. I use a fan in my
son’s room to block noise, but I am
happy that there might be other
benefits as well.”

|