Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Sudden infant death syndrome (also known as SIDS) refers to the sudden death of an apparently healthy infant under one year of age whose death cannot be explained even after a complete investigation.
Taking Care
Mrs. Wyatt is following all the instructions her doctor gave for the care of her new baby. She puts him to sleep both at night and for daytime naps on his back instead of on his stomach. She makes sure the crib has a mattress that is firm and that no blankets, pillows, or toys are around the baby. She refrains from bundling her baby in thick clothing before putting the baby to bed.
The doctor recommended these precautions because they reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a mysterious disorder that is a leading cause of death for children between the ages of one month and one year.
Since mothers like Mrs. Wyatt started to put their babies to sleep on their backs and began to adopt other preventive strategies, the number of SIDS deaths has dropped substantially. However, SIDS still accounts for about 3,000 deaths per year in the United States, usually while the babies are asleep in their cribs. No one knows for sure why these babies die. Most appear to be healthy until their deaths.
Parents often feel guilt mixed with their grief over the death of their baby. They think perhaps they could have done something more for the baby, but SIDS is no one's fault.
What Is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?
It is casier to say what SIDS is not than what it is. SIDS does not result from suffocation, choking, vomiting, or a fatal reaction to a vaccination. A baby does not catch it like a cold.
Doctors assign a baby's death to SIDS when no other cause of death is found after conducting an autopsy, an investigation of the place where the baby died, and a review of the baby's medical history.
Researchers explored the possible causes of SIDS for years, and many came to believe that it results from a problem in an area of the brain that controls two important functions while infants are asleep: breathing and waking up. In 2006, a research team conducted autopsies on 31 infants who had died of SIDS, and they found that about three-fourths of the infants had abnormalities in a certain brain chemical called serotonin. The researchers believed the abnormality prevented the infants from responding normally when they were not getting enough oxygen. These responses include turning the head or taking deeper breaths. It was hoped that this finding would lead to tests that could help determine if an infant actually died of SIDS and possibly to medications that might someday identify and prevent the problem.
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