The risk of SIDS has been reported consistently as being positively related to parity or birth order.
SIDS is sometimes known as crib death because the infants often die in their cribs. Although the cause is unknown, it appears that SIDS might be associated with defects in the portion of an infant's brain that controls breathing and arousal from sleep.
The potential factors that contribute to the occurrence of SIDS include inadequate prenatal care, low birth weight (<2499gr), premature infants, intrauterine growth delay, short interval between pregnancies and maternal substance use (tobacco, alcohol, opiates).
SIDS is less common after 8 months of age, but parents and caregivers should continue to follow safe sleep practices to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death until baby's first birthday. More than 90% of all SIDS deaths occur before 6 months of age.
The rate of SIDS deaths per 100,000 live births has declined in Australia since the beginning of national public education campaigns about risk factors associated with SIDS in 1991 (AIHW 2012). Between 2007 and 2017 the rate declined from 28 per 100,000 to 6 in 2017, following a peak in 2009 of 32 per 100,000.
SIDS has no symptoms or warning signs. Babies who die of SIDS seem healthy before being put to bed. They show no signs of struggle and are often found in the same position as when they were placed in the bed.
Dr. Hauck: We don't know for sure why room-sharing without bed-sharing is protective, but we have some theories. One is that the babies are sleeping more lightly because there is more movement around them (so they cannot get into as deep a sleep, which can contribute to the final pathway in SIDS).
Babies who are breastfed or are fed expressed breastmilk are at lower risk for SIDS compared with babies who were never fed breastmilk. According to research, the longer you exclusively breastfeed your baby (meaning not supplementing with formula or solid food), the lower his or her risk of SIDS.
Most deaths happen during the first 6 months of a baby's life. Infants born prematurely or with a low birthweight are at greater risk. SIDS also tends to be slightly more common in baby boys. SIDS usually occurs when a baby is asleep, although it can occasionally happen while they're awake.
Researchers have found that an infant who is swaddled – wrapped tightly in a blanket or cloth with their limbs restricted – while placed on their front or stomach to sleep faces a higher risk of SIDS.
It may be because babies don't sleep as deeply when they have a pacifier, which helps wake them up if they're having trouble breathing. A pacifier also keeps the tongue forward in the mouth, so it can't block the airway.
White noise reduces the risk of SIDS.
We DO know that white noise reduces active sleep (which is the sleep state where SIDS is most likely to occur).
Studies have shown that the increased SIDS risk associated with colder temperatures in the winter can be explained by excessive clothing and overwrapping of infants.
Back sleeping carries the lowest risk for SIDS and is recommended. Stomach sleeping carries the highest risk for SIDS—between 1.7 and 12.9 times the risk of back sleeping. It is not recommended. The side-lying position also increases the risk.
The way parents put their children to sleep is learned behavior, passed down from their parents or cultures. Asian families are no different — and their cultural behavior could account for why Asian babies are the least likely to die of SIDS.
Breastfed babies wake up more easily than exclusively formula-fed babies, so that may be one reason breastfeeding appears to affect SIDS risk. Babies also receive immune benefits from breastfeeding which can reduce their risk of a viral infection. Viral infections can increase SIDS risk.
Place babies on their backs to sleep for naps and at night.
Babies who sleep on their backs are at lower risk for SIDS than babies who sleep on their stomachs or sides. If baby usually sleeps on their back, putting them on the stomach or side to sleep for a nap or at night,increases the risk for SIDS by up to 45 times.
Babies can become wedged between a parent's body and the back of a couch or the arm of a chair and the weight of the adult's body can prevent them from breathing. Sleeping with your baby on a sofa also puts your baby at a greatly increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Results: The majority of SIDS deaths (83%) occurred during night-time sleep, although this was often after midnight and at least four SIDS deaths occurred during every hour of the day.
The results found that running a fan in a sleeping infant's room lowered the risk for SIDS by 72 percent. That risk was lowered even further when the infant's sleeping conditions put him or her at higher risk for SIDS, such as sleeping in a warm room or sleeping on the stomach.
The results showed a positive correlation between temperature and SIDS in 3–12 month-old infants specifically. On days when temperatures were greater than 29 °C, there was a 2.78 times greater chance of sudden infant death than on 20 °C days.
58% of the parents suffered from SIDS-related anxiety, further 20.5% from severe SIDS-related anxiety. Anxiety correlated significantly with preceding complications in pregnancy (OR 2.19) and previous loss of a child (OR 2.95).
The key risk factors associated with SUDI in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants are: low birthweight. premature birth. maternal nutrition during pregnancy.