SIDS Prevention Guide. How to Make Your Baby’s Sleep Safer Than Ever.

Some scientists believe the condition is related to the fact that the child is vulnerable during this period of development that destabilized the child’s system. This article presents some information regarding SIDS in a detailed way.

In short, SIDS isn’t something that we know much about, but we have an idea on how to decrease the chances of happening. Let’s take a look at the triple-risk model first.

Although the exact cause is not known and there is no one answer to what causes this cursed phenomenon to happen yet there are a few triggers that you must watch for:

1. The Triple Risk Model

Scientists believe that sudden infant death syndrome happens because of a mixture of outside stressors combined with the critical developmental period and the fact that the baby is vulnerable.

Still, if the child has a vulnerable system, he/she cannot survive these stressors. Even though they are not the primary cause of sudden infant death syndrome, it is believed that they weaken the child’s body and make him/her more vulnerable to such syndromes and diseases.

2. Brain abnormalities

Babies who die due to sudden infant death syndrome are born with brain abnormalities that are unseen. These defects happen in a part of the brain that controls breathing, body temperature, waking from sleep, blood pressure and heart rate.

However, these elements are not entirely responsible for SIDS. It is theorized that another event needs to happen for SIDS to occur. That event can be overheating, infection, lack of oxygen or excessive carbon dioxide intake.

Here is an example: some babies who have respiratory infections may experience excessive carbon dioxide intake or lack of oxygen. Some babies who sleep on their stomach may re-breath exhaled air that has become trapped in bedding. When these events happen, their brains trigger them to wake up.

Some triggers can change their heartbeats, breathing patterns and so on to compensate for the lack of oxygen or the intake of carbon dioxide. But if the child’s brain has an abnormality, these triggers are less efficient and result in sudden infant death syndrome. This is why some babies who died from SIDS were found sleeping on their stomachs.

Again, this type of internal factor isn’t a direct cause of SIDS, but genes can make the baby susceptible to SIDS when they are combined with environmental factors. Polymorphism in genes that have to do with the immune system, metabolism, brain stem and much more may predispose babies to death in critical situations.

Studies in Germany and Norway presents how polymorphism of genes that are part of the immune system can make a child susceptible to SIDS. SIDS infants have an activated immune system, which means that they are vulnerable to simple infections.

In another study, almost fifty percent of infants who succumbed to SIDS had a simple upper airway infection before dying.

4. Genetic mutations

Mutations can result in genetic disorders, and this can lead to sudden unexpected death that can be mistaken for SIDS. An example: deficiency in fatty acid metabolism can result in the death of the infant because of breathing disruption or heart function disruption.

With just a few careabouts, you can minimize the risk of SIDS happening to your child. They are easy to follow and listed below:

Studies also demonstrated that the side and the prone sleeping positions are similar when it comes to the level of risk. The risk of SIDS is higher when infants are placed first on their side and then found on their stomach. This is because the probability of an infant rolling from the side position to his/her stomach is higher than going from the side sleeping position to a supine one.

Infants who are born prematurely are more susceptible to SIDS and should be placed supine as soon as possible. One study of NICU shows that only fifty percent of nurses place the preterm infants in a supine sleeping position in an open crib while twenty percent use the other sleeping positions.

Newborns should also be placed in a supine sleeping position in the first few hours after their birth. This will take some time, but after four months, the risk of SIDS is lowered, so alternating between different sleeping positions should not be a concern anymore. Check this detailed baby sleep guide.

Not only that but using this method will reduce the likelihood that your infant dies due to strangulation, entrapment, suffocation, things that may happen when a baby sleeps in an adult bed.

Of course, by sharing the room, you can also comfort and feed the baby faster and monitor him/her. So, in a sense, it is better for him/her to sleep in the same room, but on another sleeping surface.

When the infants sleep on a soft surface using the prone position the risk of SIDS increases 21-fold. It is recommended that the babies should sleep on firm surfaces without soft or loose bedding.

Instead of blankets, infant sleep clothing should be used. A proper infant sleep clothing will keep the child warm without increasing the risk of suffocation or SIDS. Blankets should be thin and tucked under the mattress and not over the infant because his/her face can be covered.