Happens to 13-15 in every 10,000 babies, usually between age of six weeks and four months; girl babies, first babies, breast-fed babies, and babies born into fairly affluent families do not succumb as often as boy babies, second, third, and fourth babies, bottle-fed babies, and babies born into poorer families. Definite links exist between SIDS and babies who sleep on their front - they should always be put to sleep on their back or on their side - parents who smoke, rooms that are too hot and babies who sleep on second-hand mattresses. Do not leave your baby alone for long periods in quiet surroundings: noise stimulates them. Suffocation by pillows, blankets, etc. is very rarely the cause.
However, there does seem to be a link between SIDS and various respiratory problems - Feeding Problems which are respiratory in origin, Asphyxia of the Newborn (when baby fails to breathe at birth), cyanotic attacks (breathing difficulties which cause skin to turn blue), and minor respiratory tract infections, especially those occurring in winter.
One cot death in four is attributed to a combination of factors, including brain malfunction, respirator tract abnormalities, and sudden severe infection. In other cases, death may occur because nervous control of breathing is jeopardised by larynx descending into throat - this happens when infant is about three months old; atmospheric pollution (carbon monoxide, lead, organo-phosphate pesticides) at this critical age it is known to affect nervous control of breathing. Other speculative causes include Allergy to cow's milk, botulism (a particularly nasty form of Food Poisoning), hyperthermia from being in over-heated rooms, hyperthyroidism (see Thyroid Problems), and a deficiency of biotin, Vitamin E, selenium, or potassium.
World Health Organisation, in its attempt to reduce incidence of SIDS worldwide, recommends that women should not get pregnant too young, that number of pregnancies should be limited, with 2-3 years between pregnancies, that mothers should not smoke or take drugs, and that babies should be breast-fed for 4-6 months. |
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