Preventing SIDS

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When I was expecting, I read everything and was soon so afraid of everything from Diet Coke to microwave ovens… Had the internet been around when I had my son, I’d have gone stark raving mad with fear.

SIDS is every parent’s worst nightmare. IMHO, no one knows what causes it (when DS was born, we were instructed to put babies to sleep on their side or belly to keep them from choking on spitup, now they say sleeping on their belly causes SIDS…)

Pray, Hope, do your best, and don’t worry!

You are a wonderful mom, and will be even better when little bug comes on out to play.

Kage
 
I was crazy about putting my babies to sleep on their back, so as not to be belly down. But when they could turn over, they always would … right on the belly. I just took EVERYTHING out of the crib, and did my best.

I read recently that babies that sleep with pacifiers, reduce the risk of SIDS DRASTICALLY. Though it was pointed out, if breastfeeding … to be sure to well establish that first, to avoid “nipple confusion.”

God bless!
 
In the states the common theory (not a proven fact or link) is that sleeping on the belly contributes to SIDS. In euprope I have heard that far more emphasis is placed on the temperature of the baby’s room. They say keeping it too warm is the factor. And of course there are always worries about fluffy pillows, comforters, etc. causing a suffocation problem. Just do the best you can, and try not to worry too much, even though mothers will always worry about their kids.🙂
 
Hmm well I don’t consider myself to be overly-worrying, I consider myself to want to be informed. I just find this forum a good place to bounce things I’ve read off other people. I thought others with young babies might like to know that there is seemingly a correlation between older and/or anti-flammable mattresses, temperature and SIDS!

Ana, I’ve read that about pacifiers too. 🙂 Thanks for the info.

Although Kage, you do sound like my mom. 🙂 If it were up to her she’d take all my books and the internet away. I think it annoys her when I pipe up about something that she has a firm opinion about. (Like she’s convinced if the baby is even in our room at night that we’re ruining my child’s lifelong ability to sleep independently.) I just think if I DID NOT have the internet, I’d be only at the mercy of what those around me think or teach.

But thanks all for the warning not to take all of this overly-seriously. 🙂
 
i did remember reading that formaldihyde (sp???) in new matresses was a possible factor. our king had been a year old and the crib that i sometimes set him in while i showered was used by my mom in the late 80’s early 90’s so i knew i didn’t have to worry about that.

i think Dr. Sears has a book called SIDS although I haven’t read it. I think like autism there are many many possible causes. my lactation consultant said she’s read that smoking has been tied to SIDS a lot. (don’t know)

i do know that one time when DS was 2 months old he gasped for beath in the middle of the night several times. i thanked God he was right next to us where I could get to him right away. AMEN
 
I read recently that babies that sleep with pacifiers, reduce the risk of SIDS DRASTICALLY. Though it was pointed out, if breastfeeding … to be sure to well establish that first, to avoid “nipple confusion.”
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a couple things about that study
  1. it was done on all bottle fed babies
  2. it was funded by a formula company maker
my point is that if you bottle feed and your baby sleeps in a crib yes a passy would help because the sucking at night helps them from falling into a sleep state so deep that their immature sleep system can not be arroused to keep breathing. the study also said the safest place was for a crib sleeper was in the parents room not another room

if you are nursing and do cosleep or sidecar or even crib inyour room and nurse at night the nursing will do the same thing
 
Good point spacecadet. As a breastfeeding mother whose son refuses all pacifiers, that study had me worried. I’m glad to know the truth about where it came from, and I was silly not to realize that breastfeeding would probably have the same effect, keeping the baby from sleeping too deeply.

Personally I don’t buy the supposedly toxic bedding theory. Babies have died of SIDS for centuries, at least. I read that in the middle ages some people believed that cats stole the babies’ breath away. That was long before there were fire retardants in baby mattresses.
 
Every time we have a child, new SIDS info comes out… a lot of that info is based on “percentages”. If a high percent of babies who are swaddled in a blanket die before a certain age… it will get added as a possible SID cause (… and did.) Don’t let SIDS statistics get you worried.
 
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spacecadet:
a couple things about that study
  1. it was done on all bottle fed babies
  2. it was funded by a formula company maker
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Kind if reminds me of the study done “proving” that cloth diapers have just as negative of an impact on the environment as disposables. The study was conducted by Proctor and Gamble, one of the leading manufactures of disposable diapers.:confused:

It stinks that one has to study the “study” to look for bias.

Oh yeah, and wasn’t there a time that mom’s were told to lay infants on their bellies to prevent SIDS?
 
I read that in the middle ages some people believed that cats stole the babies’ breath away
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I think this was related to the common fear that cats are drawn to the babies mouths because they smell the milk. Little baby can’t push big tabby away, baby suffocates.
wasn’t there a time that mom’s were told to lay infants on their bellies to prevent SIDS?
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My mom was told this and to this day laments loudly about how they were HORRIBLE parents if they didn’t put kids on their bellys, and how they’d prop kids up with towels, etc to keep them from rolling over - just like we do today in reverse since the “new” theory says back is best. I say just let the kids sleep, as long as it isn’t in a overtly unsafe way.

Mom also complains that they were conditioned to think formula was best, and cows milk was good; then 20 years later they said breast is best, and cows milk is horrible; and today they say breast is best and at 1 year old start feeding them whole milk so they get the extra fat to make their brains grow and they will be smarter.

For every “expert” opinion, there is another “expert” saying the exact opposite. For every study “proving” something is bad, there is another study “proving” it’s benefits (or attacking the alternative). I believe everything in moderation and you’ll be fine, as long as you aren’t run over by a bus.
 
just curious but wouldnt an untreated natural fiber matress cover avoid this issue? I remember reading something about fireproofing materials potentially causing SIDS but not fungi. In either case wouldnt putting a barrier between the baby and the treated matress work?
 
Jennifer J:
It’s a wonder any of us survived infanthood and childhood :rolleyes:
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:rotfl:

I once read an essay with that for a title. Talking about how when they were kids, they drank from a hose, rode in the back of a pick up, shared sodas etc …
 
After reading that study, I found all of the arguments and evidence to support the fact that SIDS is caused by a fungus reacting with fireproofing/preservative chemicals. Everything in that study just makes sense. My husband and I were talking about it, and there are two things that we question about it though:
  1. If a fungus produces nerve gas, why do so *few * babies die from SIDS? It seems as though the SIDS rate would be much higher if a baby was exposed to nerve gas!
  2. This research was published in 2002, and I would like to see what studies in the last almost 4 years have said about this. This is also the first time I have heard about this, so has it since been disproven? Why is this information not common knowledge?
After talking about it and going over all of the evidence presented, we think we have an idea. Maybe it’s an allergic-type deal. Only the babies born with a specific sensitivity to the nerve gas (which must be present in such small amounts that only highly sensitive children are susceptible) die, while the “normal” babies are not affected. If this were true, it would lead to universal screening for “SIDS sensitivity” at birth so that those babies could be identified and given the appropriate bedding 🙂 If only I had a few million dollars to spare on this study!
 
I’ve also read some information on the topic. I don’t know if there is much truth to it or not. We plan to have the baby in our room in a travel crib, which is smaller version of a pack & play, until she’s passed the stage where SIDS is a big risk, which I think is about 6 months. So she won’t be on the crib mattress, although she might go down in there for naps. I’ve read that you should get the mattress ahead of the baby’s arrival and let it air out for a long time. Also, they say you should do the same with new furniture, especially if it was made outside the US or Canada. There can be harsh chemicals or smells in the wood.
 
And if you’re planning to carpet the nursery, install that new carpeting asap. The off-gassing from the carpet pads is terrible.

P.S. Babies sleep much better on their tummies. It’s a soothing position for most of them.
 
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Ana:
Kind if reminds me of the study done “proving” that cloth diapers have just as negative of an impact on the environment as disposables. The study was conducted by Proctor and Gamble, one of the leading manufactures of disposable diapers.:confused:

It stinks that one has to study the “study” to look for bias.

Oh yeah, and wasn’t there a time that mom’s were told to lay infants on their bellies to prevent SIDS?
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oh please!!! i can’t believe a study would even try to say cloth is just as bad. reminds me of the study saying an ingredient found in rocket fuel was found in breastmilk. where do you think it came from/?? our water…what do people mix with formula…water…

another thing about that SIDS passy study. once the baby drops the passy out of his/her mouth the protection is no longer there unless you keep getting up in the middle of the night and putting it back in;)
 
I think this is drifting off topic, but…
I don’t care if you use cloth or disposibles, they both have an impact on the local resources! With cloth you use more water (bad in an arid area) and thus energy to clean them, plus the added detergent and solids that are released into the water. The cloth material for the diapers is manufactured and often bleached. If you use a diaper service, they use bleach and chemicals to clean the diapers.
Now obviously disposibles are put into landfills along with the soiled parts (no one shakes them out) and there is the environmental cost of manufacter. I just don’t see it as cut and dry that cloth is enviromentally better than disposibles–each has it’s own drawbacks.
I really don’t know anything about the study done. But to paint with such a broad brush that you KNOW that cloth is 100% good with no drawbacks is just as bad as saying that everything about disposibles are bad.
 
Wow. There are so many, many things that cause SIDS! I had no idea!

I remember 2 and 1/2 years ago bringing my newborn home from the hospital. The nurses had told me they had to hold her if she was going to sleep because she refused to sleep on her back. Seriously. You put her down on her back and her little newborn hands shot up in the air, her face crumpled, and that awful “you hurt me” newborn scream started. It took one night of sleeplessness, trying both co-sleeping and crib-sleeping, for me to say “forget this!” and put her on her stomach. I was too exhausted to worry.

Then there are the “swaddlers” who say that swaddling a baby is best for them (my daughter HATED it) and who say not to hold a baby too much, and on and on. Every time I read a SIDS study part of me just wonders how accurate people are when they report the circumstances of a baby’s death. Not that I blame the parents in all cases (though I do think that abuse skews the statistics), but they must be absolutely going nuts, just having lost their baby. It would probably take a couple of weeks for me to come back to reality if I lost my child suddenly.
 
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