{"id":31912,"date":"2022-11-16T03:24:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T03:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=31912"},"modified":"2022-11-17T15:45:46","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T15:45:46","slug":"the-tragedy-of-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-a-pediatrician-explains-how-to-protect-your-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/the-tragedy-of-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-a-pediatrician-explains-how-to-protect-your-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"The tragedy of sudden infant death syndrome: A pediatrician explains how to protect your\u00a0baby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rachel Moon<\/a>, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each year, about 3,400 U.S. infants die suddenly and unexpectedly while sleeping, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/em> On Oct. 12, 2022, SciLine interviewed Dr. Rachel Moon<\/a>, professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia and the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Moon discussed the best ways for babies to sleep safely and the recent media reports heralding a study on \u201cthe cause\u201d of SIDS.<\/em> https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/761600785 Dr. Rachel Moon discusses SIDS \u2013 sudden infant death syndrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are some highlights from the discussion. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is SIDS?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon:<\/strong> It stands for sudden infant death syndrome<\/a>, and it is a term that describes when babies die suddenly and unexpectedly. It has been superseded by a more comprehensive term called sudden and unexpected infant death<\/a>, which encompasses SIDS and then other sleep-related deaths (such as accidental suffocation) and deaths that occur when a baby is sleeping or in a sleep environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What exactly causes these babies to die?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon:<\/strong> Ultimately what happens is that, for most babies, there is a lack of arousal. They can\u2019t wake up to respond when they are not getting enough oxygen or there\u2019s too much carbon dioxide in their system. This is not something that you can see in a lab test or blood test or any kind of test<\/a>. We only find out when the baby has died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the safest way for babies to sleep, and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon:<\/strong> We want every baby to sleep on their back on a surface that is firm and flat, which means not inclined, and safety-approved. So, ideally a crib, a bassinet, a playpen or another product that is approved by the CPSC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission<\/a>. And then nothing should be in that area but the baby. We also want babies to be in a smoke-free environment<\/a> and ideally to get as much human milk, breast milk<\/a>, as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What sleeping situations are dangerous for babies?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon:<\/strong> Babies should never, ever, ever sleep on couches, sofas or stuffed armchairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is known about the safety of letting a baby nap in a sling or baby carrier?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon:<\/strong> The thing that we worry about is that when a baby is in that kind of device, the baby\u2019s body position can be such that it blocks their airway or that their face is up against something that can obstruct their airway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s fine for the baby to be in a carrier or a sling, but we recommend that the baby be upright so that the head and neck are straight and that the airway is straight. And then we also recommend that the baby\u2019s head and neck be above the top of the carrier<\/a> so that you can always see the baby\u2019s face and that there\u2019s no obstruction of the nose and the mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is known about the safety of letting a baby nap in a car seat?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon:<\/strong> If you are traveling, a car seat is absolutely the safest place for your baby to be<\/a>. However, when you get to where you\u2019re going, then it is best if you take the baby out of the car seat and then put the baby on a flat, firm surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When babies are at an incline, it\u2019s actually harder for them to keep their airway straight<\/a>. Their heads are really big and heavy for the size of their bodies. And so it takes a lot more work when they are at an angle than if they\u2019re flat on their back. They can develop muscle fatigue, and that can actually be dangerous for them. \u2026 There is actually some really compelling biomechanical data that led to the CPSC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, restricting and hopefully banning inclined sleep products<\/a> such as rockers and similar products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the evidence on the safety of \u2018co-sleeping,\u2019 where babies sleep in bed with their parents?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon:<\/strong> The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib or bassinet or another safety-approved device that is next to your bed. We know that babies who sleep in the same bed as their parents are at higher risk for death<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend for the space to be right next to your bed because that makes it easy for you to turn and pick up the baby or comfort the baby or bring the baby into bed for feeding. If you do bring the baby into the bed for feeding, that\u2019s fine. But when you or the baby gets ready to fall asleep, then just move the baby back into the crib.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should parents and other caregivers know about the recent headlines claiming a study had found \u2018the cause\u2019 of SIDS?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon:<\/strong> These researchers \u2013 they looked at dried blood samples<\/a>. And these are the tests that are done on your baby when your baby is born to look for genetic diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They took these dried blood samples and looked for a particular chemical that\u2019s in the body called butyrylcholinesterase. And they found it to be at a different level in babies who died from SIDS than babies who did not die from SIDS \u2026 While I think it\u2019s an interesting result<\/a>, and while it may lead to other tests and other studies, at this point, it is not the be-all and end-all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t have a test that can diagnose who is going to die from SIDS and who\u2019s not. And so you still have to follow the safe sleep guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the full interview<\/a> to hear about how to prevent SIDS.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SciLine<\/a> is a free service based at the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science that helps journalists include scientific evidence and experts in their news stories.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moon<\/a>, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rachel Moon, University of Virginia Each year, about 3,400 U.S. infants die suddenly and unexpectedly while sleeping, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Oct. 12, 2022, SciLine interviewed Dr. Rachel Moon, professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia and the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":31913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[42],"tags":[5486,12928,12927],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31914,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31912\/revisions\/31914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}