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Infant Sleep Safety - Lessening the Dangers of Cot Death
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (also known as SIDS), is the greatest common cause of death in youngsters under one year of age. This harrowing condition happens while the infant is sleeping. Unfortunately, to date there is not a known cure, or even a known reason in fact, as to why some youngsters are affected by SIDS while others aren't. But the fact is that over 2,500 children die in America annually from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Even though the number of infant deaths have been cut by approximately forty percent by taking a number of preventative approaches and including baby sleep safety techniques to protect youngsters from SIDS, there is not a way to fully sidestep the occurrence of cot death.
Tips for Baby Sleep Safety
*Ensure your baby sleeps on his or her back. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome has been closely linked to children sleeping on their tummies.
*Ensure your baby has a firm mattress. Avoid certain fluffy toys or baby pillows that could cause suffocation.
*Don't let your child get too hot in the night. children have a higher body temperature than adults and do not need so many blankets - do not let Infant be too cold either though!
*Don't drink alcohol, take drugs or smoke either before or after your baby's birth. Smoke from cigarettes is known to be a factor that can contribute to SIDS.
*Join in with early and parental care clinics, particularly if you are a parent for the first time.
*Breast feed Infant if it is at all possible. Breast fed babies are statistically much less likely to be affected by SIDS.
*Consider offering your baby a pacifier throughout the initial year of life. It is not known why but children that are given a pacifier during this time are much less likely to be claimed by Cot Death.
*do not sleep with Infant in the same bed or let Infant sleep in a normal adult bed. A baby has a higher chance of suffocating when in a bed that has been designed for adults. It is fine though to comfort and feed Infant in bed as long as he or she is taken back to his or her proper cot afterwards.
SIDS is not the same as any other disease or syndrome. Most conditions surrounding a childs death are diagnosed by A symptoms associated with the death. Cot Death however is only diagnosed once any other possibilities are dismissed.
Risk Factors
There are a few notable risk factors or specific trends that can be observed in data regarding SIDS. All of these should be noted and addressed by mothers and fathers that have children in a high-risk category.
*Boys are more likely than girls to die from SIDS. There is relatively little that can be done about this fact, it is simply included here as a notation.
*Drug use, drinking alcohol and smoking are thought to be three of the main contributory factors to Cot Death. In simple terms, if you value the health of your baby, do not use damaging drugs like these!
*Poor parental care. First-time or young parents are the greatest risk. However, as long as a parent ensures they get early and frequent parental care checks and also have the backing of their friends and family, there is much less chance of this happening.
*Babies born prematurely are at an increased Dangers of SIDS.
Premature babies at birth have a disadvantage initially with and can often be quite fragile and under developed. This is once again more of a note than a specific prevention.
*Mothers who are less than twenty years of age are at Dangers of having a child die from Cot Death. This can be for a mixture of reasons such as plain inexperience or unintended neglect.
By using the tips above and ensuring that you are aware of the potential risks and also implementing the precautions to ensure your baby can sleep safely you can lessen the likelihood of losing a baby to SIDS. For parents who have lost a baby to Cot Death there are numerous excellent support groups available to help in going through the process of grieving.
About the Author: Chris is the webmaster of www.infantsleep.info which gives a wealth of information, help and advice on infant sleep problems.
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