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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

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Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is any sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant aged one month to one year. The term cot death is sometimes used in the United Kingdom, and crib death in the United States.

Very little is known about the possible causes of SIDS; there is no method for absolute prevention. However, several risk factors are associated with increased probability of the syndrome.

Prenatal risks
inadequate prenatal care
inadequate prenatal nutrition
tobacco smoking
use of heroin
teenage pregnancy
less than a one year interval between subsequent births

Post-natal risks
low birth weight (especially less than 1.5 kg (~3.3 lbs)
exposure to tobacco smoke
laying an infant to sleep on his or her stomach (see positional plagiocephaly)
failure to breastfeed
excess clothing and overheating
excess bedding, soft sleep surface and stuffed animals
gender (61% of SIDS occur in males)
age (incidence rises from zero at birth, is highest between 2-4 months and goes towards zero at one year)
Research on co-sleeping indicates an excess risk with an adjusted Odds-Ratio of 2.71 (Vennemann et al., Acta Paediatr. 2005 Jun;94(6):655-60.) There is a good deal of debate and discussion in the medical literature about this (see below). For example, though findings are still preliminary and unpublished, the proximity of a parent's respiration is thought by some to stimulate proper respiratory development in the infant. It is interesting to note that the first epidemiologic investigation of sudden unexpected infant deaths by Templeman in Dundee in 1892 were shown to be probably from suffocation by overlaying (Williams et al., Sudden unexpected infant deaths in Dundee, 1882-1891: overlying or SIDS? Scott Med J. 2001 Apr;46(2):43-7).

(The use of baby monitors, particularly those with motion sensors, can allow the parents to remotely keep track of their child.)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia