What Is SIDS?

Knowledge is power. For more information about SIDS and how parents and caregivers can reduce the risk, visit the following online resources: The National SIUD/SID Center (www.sidscenter.org) The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (www.nichd.nich.gov) The American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org) The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov) First Candle/SIDS Alliance (www.firstcandle.org) Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood Program (www.sudc.org) Your local state and county Child Health and Welfare office. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Learn More: What You Should Know About SIDS... Infant Health and Wellness The Safe to Sleep campaign formerly the Back to

It is every parents’ worst fear to wake up one morning to find that their child has passed away without warning. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the common name used today is also referred to as Crib Death, which is an unexplained death occurring during sleep of a seemingly healthy baby less than a year old (mayo clinic). Even though there are some ways to prevent SIDS, there is no guarantee that a child is a hundred percent safe. Some ways to prevent SIDS can be done with parental knowledge of how SIDS occurs. Even though the baby has nothing medically wrong, it could be that the parents did something unintentionally by accident or are simply uniformed.

increase's an infant's risk for SIDS, but the cause of such unexplained deaths is still unknown.

Brain abnormalities. Some infants are born with problems that make them more likely to die of SIDS. In many of these babies, the portion of the brain that controls breathing and arousal from sleep doesn't work properly.

An article in Science Daily tells that a neurologists studies led by investigators say that children who die by SIDS have differences in their brainstem chemistry (Boston Children's Hospital). Activities like breathing, heart rate change, blood pressure, and temperature are impacted by abnormalities in the brain (Boston Children's Hospital). Besides the physical factors there are also three sleep environmental factors that impact SIDS: sleep on the stomach or side, sleep on a soft surface, and sleeping with parents (Mayo Clinic Staff). Sleeping on the stomach or side causes infant to have problems breathing, and airway can become blocked if infant is put down to sleep on a soft surface. As I have also read in my Lesson Book and online, when infants are put to sleep on their bellies and/or sides it causes them to have trouble breathing. This eventually leads to the sudden death of an infant in his or her crib (ILC).

          In the Western world, SIDS is the most common cause of death for infants between two weeks and one year of age, but SIDS also occurs throughout the world. SIDS most commonly happens during sleep, although it can occur anywhere, such as in baby carriages, safety car seats, or

     When putting it all together the number of lives births each year, SIDS remains the leading cause of death in the United States among infants between one month and one year of age and second only to congenital anomalies as the leading overall cause of death for all infants less than one year of age.

As I stated in the abstract, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is the unexpected death of a healthy infant in its sleep usually under the age of one. It is also known as “crib death” because the death usually occurs in the crib. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome claims the lives of approximately 2,500 infants each year. The majority of SIDS deaths occur between 2 and 4 month year olds. The cause of SIDS is usually known and there are a number of causes. Causes of SIDS include: smoking or drinking during pregnancy, inadequate prenatal responsibility, prematurity, inexperienced mothers, smoking near or around the baby, enormous amounts of heating from blankets or pajamas, and placing a baby on its stomach (Floyd R. Livingston Jr., MD. Sudden Infant Death

“Metabolomic profiling of brain from infants who died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome reveals novel predictive biomarkers”

There are many things that doctors believe contribute to the cause of sudden infant death syndrome. According to Mayo

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the diagnosis for any infant in which the cause of death cannot be determined. This is a broadly researched topic and yet no definitive conclusion can be made on the cause and mechanisms that structure this disease. The Center of Disease and Control (CDC) has reported that over 4,000 infant deaths are of unknown cause each year [1] and defined as SIDS. This equates to a 1 in 3 ratio of all infant deaths being associated to SIDS. SIDS is characterized by death of infants ranging in age from 1- 12 months of age. It is expected that some infants pass in their sleep due to accidental suffocation, heat and lack of air circulation, or limited health resources due to socioeconomic status, as experimented by Hoffman

Many parents worry about protecting their infant from the silent killer, known as SIDS. Each year thousands of babies die with no prior illness or symptoms. The causes of SIDS are still, for the most part, unknown, which makes disease prevention difficult. Sudden infant death syndrome, commonly known as SIDS, affects thousands of families annually due to lack of information about the risk categories, and prevention methods known in the medical field and by parents.

We are aware that SIDS occurs during sleep, but a knowledge gap would be that we don’t actually know what causes SIDS. The cause of death is basically a ruling out process by a body examiner.

SIDS and how to prevent it, are still limited. The leaders in this field are

SUDDEN INFANT DEATH (SIDS) is the term used to describe the sudden and unexpected death of a healthy baby or toddler that is initially unexplained. It is sometime called as 'Cot or Crib death' beacause infants often die in their cot or cribs.