Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS is a medical term used to describe the mystery death that parents worries a lot. It is also known as “crib death” since it always happens when the baby is left alone in the crib. This occurs among infants who are 1 month up to 1 year old. SIDS still has no medical explanation on what it causes. What happen is that babies die in their sleep and parents are left with questions of how and what it caused. This normally occurs during normal sleeping hours and in some healthy babies too.

Here are some choices to consider in preventing SIDS:

1. For pregnant women, avoid smoking and/or using of drugs nor expose yourself to secondhand smoking since those who are exposed to such has higher risk of infants dying of SIDS.
2. Let your baby sleep on their back to promote proper breathing.
3. Avoid / prevent smoking in your home (it is also harmful to your health so it’s much better to avoid it permanently).
4. Continue breast-feeding. Some studies show that breast-feeding reduces the risk of SIDS perhaps because of its nutritional content. Aside from preventing SIDS, it is also helpful to increase the baby’s immune system.
5. Make sure to have a regular check-up. This is also to ensure the baby’s general health.
6. Remove any hazardous materials from the crib / bed / bassinets (e.g. stuff toys and other toys, too much pillows). It is best to keep the crib where the parents sleep.

As they say, “prevention is better than cure”. So it’s better to take this seriously to avoid SIDS.