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River Valley Pediatrics |
531 Central Park Avenue, Suite 102
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SID (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is defined as the death of an infant that cannot be explained by known causes. The peak ages are 2 to 3 months of age, with the frequency decreasing as the baby becomes older. Although there is no proven explanation for SIDS, there are several characteristics associated with increasing risk. The most important of these include placing a newborn on their stomachs to sleep, maternal smoking, sleeping on a soft surface, overheating, preterm birth, and male gender. Since 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics has been recommending that babies sleep only on their backs. The number of babies with SIDS has decreased dramatically since that time, but is still a rare but tragic occurrence. 3 To decrease the risk of SIDS, always place your baby on his or her back to sleep. When your baby is strong enough to roll back and forth on their own, they can sleep however they are comfortable; you do not need to keep going into the baby's room to turn the baby back over. Make sure that the baby sleeps on a firm mattress with no pillows or stuffed animals in the crib. We do not recommend co-sleeping with the baby in your bed. Do not over-wrap your baby; they should be dressed in one more layer than what makes you comfortable.
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