Serious talk about SIDS... Loss mentioned

JEM525

Last week one of my oldest a dearest friends lost their six month old baby girl to SUIDS. In their baby girls case this was a sudden natural death. This is heart breaking and terrifying for any parent. I just wanted to remind all the moms to be very clear with all their children's care givers that nothing should be in bed with baby. Please lady's be the mom who takes all the precautions! 

SUMMARY

Don’t Smoke – Don’t expose your baby to cigarette smoke before or after birth.

Don’t Bed-Share – Never fall asleep with your baby in your bed or in a chair or sofa.

Place in Bare Crib – The baby should be placed in a crib with no cover, pillows, bumper pads or positioning devices.

Place on Back to Sleep – Always place your baby, day or night on his back to sleep.

DETAILED LIST

Before the Baby is Born:

1. Get good early prenatal care. A healthy full-term baby is more likely to live past infancy.
2. Do not use cocaine or heroin during pregnancy or prescription drugs not prescribed by your doctor.
3. Do not smoke cigarettes during pregnancy.
4. Do not become pregnant during your teen years.
5. If you are a teen and already have one child, wait until adulthood to have another. A second infant born to a teen mother is especially at high risk.

After the Baby is Born:

1. Do not fall asleep with your baby in your bed. If you breastfeed, be sure to place baby back in his crib before dosing off.
2. Do not allow the baby to sleep with other children. Babies should never bed-share with children or adults.
3. Use a bare crib with a firm mattress. Put nothing in the bed but the baby and the clothes needed to stay warm but not too warm. Don’t use pillows, positioning devices, blankets or other cover. Remove bumper pads from baby’s crib. Make sure nothing can ever get close to his face. There is evidence that rebreathing (inhaling the air that was breathed out) can affect the infant’s arousal.
4. Keep your baby’s crib in the parents’ room until he is at least 6 months of age and has learned to easily roll both ways on his own.
5. Babies should be safely put in a bare crib on their backs even when they are fretful, have a cold, or are otherwise needing extra comfort. Just keep the crib close to you and you will both be comforted. Babies with colds are at higher risk for sudden infant death.
6. Do not allow anyone to smoke around the baby. Do not have your baby in a room or car where people have recently been smoking.
7. Offer your baby a pacifier. For breastfeeding mothers, introduce the pacifier after the baby has learned to feed. Do not attach the pacifier to the baby or crib since it can cause a choking hazard. Several studies have found a lower risk of sleep-related death when babies use a pacifier.
8. Breast-feed your baby. This can lead to an overall healthy baby and may help soothe a fretful baby.
9. Some mothers learn that putting babies on their stomachs may make them cry less. And while that is true for many, if not most babies, it is dangerous and puts babies at higher risk for sleep-related deaths.
10. Give your baby plenty of interactive tummy play-time. This should never be in a bed. A good place for this is on a play mat on the floor. Never leave him on his stomach unattended. Play with him as he does his baby push-ups.
11. When you travel with your baby, be sure to plan a safe place for him to sleep. Call ahead to the hotel to make sure they have safe cribs available or take your own portable crib.
12. Do not put too many clothes on the baby or keep him/her in a room that is too hot. If the baby is sweating, remove some of the clothing.
13. If your baby has periods of not breathing, going limp or turning blue, tell your pediatrician at once. And if your baby stops breathing or gags excessively after spitting up, discuss this with your pediatrician immediately.
14. Thoroughly discuss each of the above points with all caregivers.
15. If you take your baby to daycare or leave him with a sitter, provide a copy of this list to them. Make sure they follow all recommendations.

Read the American Academy Position Paper on SIDS

Gizmo1231

Just to clarify.... Bed sharing has nothing to do with SIDS. When you bed share, you put your baby at risk for positional asphyxia with your body, the mattress, blankets, etc. same goes with crib bumper pads, etc. 

Gizmo1231

Forgot to add- I'm sorry for your friend's loss. I can't imagine. 

JEM525

This list is strait from the Official SIDS site. Just posting their information. I copy and pasted. The American SIDS Institute definition of SIDS.

edited because I completely agree with you, just didn't come off that way. Just want to post up to date information that is from their site. 

JEM525

What is SIDS/SUID?

SIDS vs. SUID

In the last several years, the terms connoting sudden infant death have become confusing, not only to parents, but also to professionals and researchers.

CDC (Centers for Disease Control), in an attempt to clarify the issue, suggested that SUID (Sudden Unexpected Infant Death) be used as a broad term that encompasses all sudden infant deaths. This would include SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), accidental deaths (such as suffocation and strangulation), sudden natural deaths (such as those caused from infections, cardiac or metabolic disorders, and neurological conditions), and homicides.1

Some others however, use SUID to mean Sudden Unexplained Infant Death. For example when a medical examiner, even after a thorough scene investigation, cannot tell the difference between SIDS and suffocation, they will often use this term to mean it is unexplained. Other medical examiners might call these “undetermined” and others would still call them SIDS. Since there is usually no way to tell the difference between suffocation and SIDS at the autopsy, the scene investigation is of utmost importance. Increasingly, investigators are using doll reenactments at the home to help parents clarify the situation surrounding their infant’s death.

There are about 4,000 sudden infant deaths a year in the US. About ½ of these are diagnosed as SIDS or unexplained and the other ½ are diagnosed as due to other causes.

1. https://www.cdc.gov/SIDS/

Gizmo1231

your last post breaks it down as I was saying- SIDS is not accidental suffocation which is why co-sleeping and having things in the crib can be dangerous. It is also why the CDC put clarification out because too many infant deaths are ruled as SIDS and are in fact, not SIDS, which is why the new term SUID comes about to encompass most unexplained infants deaths

JEM525

Exactly. 

laura311hart

So sorry for the loss, that is devastating. Safe sleep is so incredibly important. I work in child welfare and it's one of the biggest things we are trained on and have to educate others about because the incidence of children dying in unsafe sleeping situations is way too high. Hoping for peace and hearing for your friend.