Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

I have three children of my own and oversee the care of many other infants at my facility. These parents entrust their treasures to my staff and, therefore I feel our practices must always reflect current research. I chose to post about SIDS for 2 reasons. #1 As a parent, I could not fathom walking into my child's bedroom and see my beloved infant laying there lifeless with no apparent cause and #2 As a child care professional, I want to expand upon my knowledge of this issue.
 
I had always known that infants must be put to sleep on their backs, but a few ago, our center participated in a mandatory training for child care staff on SIDS prevention. Through this training, I also learned about how elevated body temperatures and smoking increase the risk of SIDS. We also had many parents who napped their infants in their car seats or infant feeding seats and would also expect us to nap them on their tummies. Through the class, we were able to develop policies for not only our staff, but our parents. Our parents are now required to read over our programmatic approach to SIDS reduction and sign off that they will not request our staff to bend the policy unless a medical clearance has been received.
 
I looked at the mortality rate in Germany. I was suprised to see that the rate was much lower in what was East Germany as they had an active monitoring system that researched every death. They realized that back sleeping was the most important factor in SIDS reduction 20 years before the "Back to Sleep" campaign was launched. The mortality rate rose slightly upon reunification due to the West's preference in prone sleeping. The actual statistics can be found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2065993/.
 
According to the American SIDS Institute, other preventative measures include:
1 - Getting regular check-ups early in the pregnancy and throughout to ensure a healthy weight of the developing infant.
2 - Not using tobacco, heroine or cocaine (seems like a no brainer there, but must be shared)
3 - Not to get pregnany during the teenage years and if so, not to have back-to-back pregnancies during this timeframe.
4 - Wait at least one year between pregnancies.
5 - Place infants to sleep on a firm mattress.
6 - Crib your baby in your room up through 6 months.
7 - Do not place infants in parental beds.
8 - Be cautious not to over clothe the infant as higher body temperatures increase the risk.
9 - Breastfeed when possible.
10 - Keep infants away from people with respiratory infections and be sure they hand wash prior to holding infants.
11 - Offer a pacifier.
12 - If the infant has episodes of turning blue, stop breathing, or going limp, tell the pediatrician at once.
13 - If the infant gags excessively after feeding, a physician should be notified.
14 - Be sure other caregivers are aware of the above preventative measures.

 

Most importantly....place infants to play on their tummies, but backs to sleep.

 

I feel this will assist me in helping parents take better care of their infants. I look forward to sharing these factors with our families and educating them.