Exposure to cigarette smoke can significantly increase your baby's risk of dying suddenly and unexpectedly. This applies to smoking both during pregnancy and after they are born. The risks of SUDI are also higher if your baby sleeps with a parent who is a smoker. Your doctor can support you to quit smoking.
While the cause of SIDS is unknown, many clinicians and researchers believe that SIDS is associated with problems in the ability of the baby to arouse from sleep, to detect low levels of oxygen, or a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood. When babies sleep face down, they may re-breathe exhaled carbon dioxide.
Scientists in Australia have found that some babies at risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, have low levels of an enzyme called butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in their blood.
Infants (children under 1 year) had the highest rate of death in all jurisdictions in 2020, accounting for 59% of all child deaths in Australia. Rates of infant deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and undetermined causes ranged between 0.16 and 0.52 per 1,000 live births.
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.
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.
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.
Sleep position:
Babies placed to sleep on their stomachs or sides are at higher risk for SIDS. Babies who are used to sleeping on their backs but who are placed on their stomachs or sides for sleep, like for a nap, are at very high risk of SIDS.
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).
SIDS is most common at 2-4 months of age when the cardiorespiratory system of all infants is in rapid transition and therefore unstable. So, all infants in this age range are at risk for dysfunction of neurological control of breathing.
Infants at the age when SIDS occurs quite frequently spend most of their sleep in a stage known as rapid eye movement or REM sleep. This sleep stage is characterized by the dysregulation of various mechanosensory airway and chemosensory autonomous reflexes that are critical for survival (18, 19).
Age also plays an important role in SIDS and sleep-related deaths. SIDS peaks between 1 and 4 months of age, and 90% of the cases take place in the first 6 months of life.
Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the occurrence of SIDS by over 50 percent by improving the immune system, promoting brain growth, reducing reflux and a variety of other factors.
Babies need tummy time! Although it does not directly reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), tummy time is an important way to help baby grow and develop.
SIDS is not caused by suffocation, vomiting, or choking. A SIDS case is not a case of injury, abuse, or neglect. In the United States, SIDS is one of the leading causes of infant mortality and the leading cause of postneonatal (28 to 364 days) mortality. Each year, approximately 3,000 infants die of SIDS.
The benefits of pacifier use include analgesic effects, shorter hospital stays for preterm infants, and a reduction in the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
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).
In contrast, the increased risk of SIDS associated with excess thermal insulation and bed sharing was less in winter than in summer. Prone sleeping position accounts for about half of the difference between the mortality rate in summer and that in winter.
Infants who die from SIDS may have a problem with the part of the brain that helps control breathing and waking during sleep. If a baby is breathing stale air and not getting enough oxygen, the brain usually triggers the baby to wake up and cry to get more oxygen.
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.
In most cases of sleep-related infant death, it is impossible to make a definitive classification of SIDS vs. accidental suffocation. Autopsy findings are similar and death scenes often reveal possible asphyxiating conditions, such as prone sleep or co-bedding, without clear evidence of airway obstruction.