Infant Sleep Safety - Lessening the Dangers of Cot Death

SIDS (or Cot Death as it is known in the UK), is the biggest recognized cause of death in babies under the age of 12 months. This shocking problem happens while the child is asleep. Unfortunately, to date there is not a known cure, or even a known reason in fact, as to why some babies are affected by the syndrome while others aren't. The fact is though that over 2,500 a baby die in America yearly from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Even though the number of infant deaths have been slashed by approximately 40 percent by taking a number of preventative approaches and following baby sleep safety techniques to protect babies from SIDS, there is not a known way at present to fully evade the occurrence of cot death.

Tips for Baby Sleep Safety

*Make sure your child sleeps on his or her back. cot death 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.

*Do not let your baby get too hot in the night. a baby have a body temperature that is higher than an adult and do not need so many blankets - do not let Infant be cold either though!

*Don't drink alcohol, smoke or take drugs either before or after the birth of your baby. Smoke from cigarettes is known to be a contributing factor 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 giving your child a pacifier in the initial year of life. It is not known why but a baby 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 suffocation when in a bed that has been designed for adults. It is fine 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 different to any other disease or syndrome. Most conditions surrounding a baby's 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 particular 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 a baby in a high-risk category.

*Boys are more likely than girls to die from SIDS. There is little that can be done about this fact, it is included here as a notation.

*Drug use, smoking and drinking alcohol are thought to be some of the main contributory factors to Cot Death. In simple terms, if you value the health of your infant, keep away from damaging drugs like these!

*Poor parental care. First-time or young parents are the greatest risk. However, if a parent ensures they get early and frequent parental care checks and also have the backing of friends and family, the risk of this happening is greatly reduced.

*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 20 years of age are at Dangers of having an infant die from Cot Death. This can be for a collection of reasons such as simple inexperience or accidental neglect.

By using the tips I've given above and ensuring that you are aware of the risks and also implementing the precautions to ensure your baby can sleep safely you can lessen the likelihood of losing a infant to SIDS. For parents who have lost a infant to Cot Death there are numerous excellent support groups available to assist in going through the process of grieving.

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