Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, is an as yet unexplained phenomena that takes the lives of many babies each year. It is defined as the sudden death of a child under one year of age that cannot be explained. The highest risk of SIDS seems to take place between the ages of two and four months old, and as any parent who has checked their quiet child in the middle of the night knows, it is a scary possibility.
The Back to Sleep campaign, launched in the 90s has made significant progress in reducing the number of SIDS deaths, but it hasn’t eliminated them.
The current theories about SIDS is that it is somehow related to respiration and the air that is breathed or re-breathed while an infant sleeps. One recent study took a look at the use of fans in the room in which an infant sleeps, and found that there was a connection between the use of a fan and a reduction in the rate of babies succumbing to SIDS.
This month, the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine published a study done by researchers at Kaiser Permanente. The researchers found that the use of a fan lowered the risk of a SIDS death by 72 percent. Furthermore, the study showed that the use of a fan was most effective in reducing the risk of SIDS when the infants were in a high-risk environment, such as when they slept on their backs or were in an overheated room. The hypothesis is that with the use of a fan, the babies were less likely to re-breathe their own exhaled carbon dioxide.
While this is good news in that it may be one more way to protect your baby, please don’t rely on the use of a fan alone. Placing a baby on its back to sleep, no matter how it protests, is one of the best ways to lower the risk of your infant dying from SIDS. Not smoking while pregnant or around your baby, pacifier use at night, removing all blankets, bedding and crib bumpers, and breastfeeding have also shown significant reduction of SIDS when implemented consistently.
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
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