SIDS is short for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS is the death of a baby that is less than a year old, in which there is no other known or identifiable cause of death after an autopsy and a thorough investigation of the environment as well as health history. The cause of SIDS is not known. SIDS is a leading cause of death in infants under a year old. SIDS seems to be spread equally along socioeconomic lines as well as along racial lines. Most SIDS deaths occur between the ages of 2 and 4 months of age, with very few occurring after six months of age. SIDS typically occurs when the baby is sleeping, and generally comes entirely without any warning signs whatsoever.

Ultimately, you cannot prevent SIDS. However, there are things that you can do to reduce the chances that SIDS will occur. For example, smoking during pregnancy is thought to significantly increase the risk of SIDS, so stopping smoking can help prevent it. The same holds true for the use of illicit drugs, as well as overuse of alcohol.

An important part of trying to prevent SIDS is to make sure you place your baby on his or her back when you put them to bed. Both side sleeping as well as stomach sleeping are both thought to be SIDS risk factors. In addition, you want to make sure that your baby has a firm mattress, and that there are no soft or loose bedding items in your baby’s crib.

There is some research that strongly suggests that using a pacifier at bed time as well as at nap time can help to prevent SIDS. Researchers don’t know how or why using a pacifier helps to prevent SIDS, but the evidence that it does help to prevent SIDS is compelling.

There are also products available for purchase that claim t help prevent SIDS. The fact is that these products are not FDA-approved, which means that they may or may not actually be effective.

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