Definition:
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) = A situation in which a seemingly healthy infant, at least 2 months of age, suddenly stops breathing and dies unexpectedly while asleep (Berger 2009).
Why is it Meaningful to me and how it has impacted my future work:
SIDS is important to me because just a year ago, one of my employees lost her infant to SIDS. It was such a devastating time for the parents and the staff. Each of my employees are now required to have annual SIDS training so that are using developmentally appropriate practices at home and at work to ensure the safety of the children are enforced and maintained at all times. Our goal is to empower our staff with the knowledge and skills needed to meet the needs of individual children and their families by providing a safe and nurturing environment.
Research:
Infant mortality has dropped worldwide over the past few years. Studies show the United States as having the least amount of infant fatalities compared to other countries such as Chile, India, Mexico and Poland. I believe this is due to identified causes and early intervention. Infants are diagnosed with SIDS when an autopsy and careful investigation cannot identify the cause of death.
In 1990, there were about 5000 reported cases of SIDS in the United States averaging 1 in every 800 infants. Similar rates were reported in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and bout European and South American nations. Surprisingly, research identified ethnic differences: Asian babies were less likely to become victims of SIDS compared to European or African descents. Even before the worldwide campaign to reduce risk of SIDS, only 1 baby in 3,000 in Hong Kong died of SIDS, compared with 1 baby in 200 in New Zealand ( Berger 2009) and (Byard, 2004). Some researches believed that low socioeconomic status (SES) increases the rate of SIDS, but further research found this to be an untrue hypothesis. Researchers began focusing on infant care practices and found that placing infants on their backs to sleep decreased SIDS.
While SIDS can occur outside of cribs, it's also known as crib death because it happens most often during sleep, usually between the hours of 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. It occurs most frequently during cold-weather months. About 20 percent of SIDS deaths happen in childcare settings, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2000
Some experts believe that SIDS happens when a baby with an underlying abnormality sleeps tummy-down or in an area with soft or loose bedding, or is faced with an environmental challenge such as secondhand smoke during a critical period of growth. 
References
American SIDS Institute (1983 - 2009). Welcome to the american sids institute. Retrieved from http://sids.org/
Berger. K. S. (2009). The developing person: Through childhood. New York. NY: Worth Publishers
Kidshealth (2005-2010). Sudden infant dealth syndrom. Nemours. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/
I found it very interesting that Asian babies are less likely to die from Sids! I wonder what they are doing with their babies? I am guilty of sleeping with my son in bed when he was an infant! I was always constantly checking on him to make sure he was still breathing! It is a heartbreaking situation to talk about, but I am glad you did! I am glad that more and more people are become educated about this!
ReplyDeleteStacey,
ReplyDeleteI'm familiar with SIDS and that it is known as crib death, but I had no idea that it has a time frame on it about when it would occur. I'm learning more and more about early childhood as we move on through this journey of education.
Thanks for this good information, I did not know that SIDS happen more in cold months. I didn't know that the thought of loose/soft bedding might contribute to the cause of SIDS.I thought it was the position when you laid babies face down. I always feared this when my babies were little so they slept with me until they were about six months old, then they slept in their crib.
ReplyDeleteThat was a very informative post. Thank you for your thorough research on such an important issue. My son was at higher risk for SIDS due to the fact that there was a previous SIDS case in the family and he had breathing problems at birth. We would go check on him several times at night (and still do) to make sure that he was breathing and had not rolled over. SIDS is a very terrifying issue and if we can raise awareness and prevention methods, perhaps some cases can be avoided.
ReplyDeleteI did not make a comment on this topic because I have two very close friends who have children who have died of SIDS. It is a very hard topic to talk about for me. I read your article and I thank you for sharing.
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