Tips for Reducing the Risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

1.Put your baby to sleep on his back:

This is the important thing you can do to help protect your baby.

The rate of deaths from SIDS has dropped 40 percent since 1994, when the “Back to Sleep” campaign was launched by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Public Health Service, the SIDS Alliance, and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs.

Most people don’t know that side sleeping is not safe. If your baby sleeps on his side rather than his back, his chances of getting SIDS doubled because if you place your baby on his side he can easily end up on his tummy.

If your baby becomes six or seven months old, he will be able to roll over in both directions, making you to keep on his back at night. Make sure that your relatives and caretakers know not to place your baby on his tummy to sleep.

Putting your baby on his back all the time can cause him to develop a flat spot on the back or side of his head, called plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome.

Babies are born with soft, pliable skulls and when a baby sleeps on his back every night, his head can develop a flat spot where it presses against the mattress. Premature babies are particularly at risk.

Make sure your child spends most of the time on his tummy during the day to strengthen back his neck muscles. Stronger neck muscles will allow him to move his head around more during sleep, so that it doesn’t always rest in the same position.

2.Choose bedding carefully:

Place your baby to sleep on a firm, flat mattress with no pillow and nothing but a fitted sheet under him.

Don’t put fluffy blankets, stuffed toys or other soft materials in his crib, either. If you think your baby is chilly, simply dress him in warmer clothing such as footed pajamas.

3.Take care of your unborn baby and yourself while you’re pregnant:

To make certain your baby’s health and reduce the risk of a premature birth or low birth weight (which are risk factors for SIDS), get good prenatal care and nutrition. Don’t smoke, drink, or use drugs while you are pregnant.

Infants of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are three times more likely to die of SIDS than those whose mothers were smoke-free; exposure to secondhand smoke doubles a baby’s risk of SIDS.

4.Avoid smoking around your baby:

Don’t smoke around your baby. Keep the air around your baby smoke free. If any of you feel you can’t quit, go outside the house to smoke and make sure others do the same.

5.Avoid overheating your baby:

Make sure your baby does not get too warm while sleeping. The temperature of the room should be comfortable for your baby. Cover your baby with a light blanket if he is overheated including sweating, damp hair, heat rash, rapid breathing and restlessness.

6.Breastfeed your baby:

Breastfeed your baby as breast milk may help protect you baby from infections that increase the risk of SIDS. Breastfeeding will help reduce the rate of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.

7.Sharing bed with your baby:

Your bed has pillows and blankets and other soft bedding, all of which are risk factors for SIDS. Your baby may be overheated while sharing your bed and the risk of rolling over onto your baby is real.

All the studies that have been conducted on this subject have shown that bed sharing increases the risk of SIDS,” says John Kattwinkel, chairman of the AAP Task Force on Infant Sleep Position and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

On the other hand, some experts believe that sleeping with the baby might allow a mother to respond more quickly to changes in her baby’s breathing and movements. And many parents are comfortable with and committed to bed sharing.

If you do decide to share a bed with your baby, you make sure that your mattress fits tightly against the headboard and has no space around it where your baby’s head could get stuck.

If you are a smoker or use any other medications, then it is unsafe to sleep along with your baby. An alternative is to keep your baby in a crib to sleep in your room.

8.Using swaddle for your baby:

Some researchers suggest that swaddling, a method of wrapping a baby securely in a blanket or cloth, may help in the prevention of SIDS because it can help babies sleep more comfortably on their back.

If your baby frightens while asleep, his own body movements can cause him to wake up; swaddling can limit those movements and help him feel secure. Other SIDS experts caution, though, that swaddling can contribute to overheating.

So if you do swaddle your baby, use a thin blanket and make sure the room isn’t too warm. And don’t keep your baby to sleep on his tummy.