SIDS

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remains unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usually occurs during sleep. Typically death occurs between the hours of 00:00 and 09:00. There is usually no evidence of struggle and no noise produced.

Causes

The exact cause of SIDS is unknown. The requirement of a combination of factors including a specific underlying susceptibility, a specific time in development, and an environmental stressor has been proposed. These environmental stressors may include sleeping on the stomach or side, overheating, and exposure to tobacco smoke. Accidental suffocation from bed sharing (also known as co-sleeping) or soft objects may also play a role.

Prevention

Prevention measures include placing the baby on their back to sleep, a firm mattress separate from but close to caregivers, no loose bedding, a relatively cool sleeping environment, using a pacifier, and avoiding exposure to tobacco smoke. Breastfeeding and immunization may also be preventive. While devices that monitor a baby's vitals signs are available, their use in preventing SIDS is not supported by evidence.

Epidemiology

SIDS was the third leading cause of death in infants of one month to one year of age in the United States in 2011. About 80% of cases occur before 4 months of age and it is slightly more common in boys than girls. Rates of SIDS vary nearly tenfold in developed countries from one in a thousand to one in ten thousand. Rates have decreased in many developed countries with the adoption of recommendations to place babies on their back to sleep.

See also

• Infant mortality
• Child mortality
• Sleep apnea

References

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