A recent study from the department of Pediatrics, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics from Kansas City Missouri was held with the objective to determine if SIDS or other sleep-related causes of infant mortality had known risk factors, with a secondary objective on if there were any associations in these risk factors at different ages.
Data was used from 24 states during 2004-2012 from the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths Case Reporting System, where 8207 infant deaths were analyzed and divided into birth through 3 months to 3 months to 364 days age groups. The results of this study showed us that of the 8207 infant deaths analyzed a higher percentage of risk factor for the younger group was bed-sharing while the predominant risk factor in the older group was having an object in their sleep environment and rolling onto it.
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The importance of this study is to make sure that parents and caregivers are made aware of the dangers of these risk factors appropriate to their child’s age.
We at Good Night Sleep Site always practice the ABC’s of Safe Sleep with our clients. Educating our parents on the safest sleep environments possible for their families is something that we take very seriously.
Your child should be sleeping alone, on their backs, and in their cribs. It’s also important that you practice a safe sleep environment with your little one and clear their sleep area of blankets, bumpers, and big stuffed animals. What this study also shows us is that both the parent and child provider must be on the same page and both must be educated on the safest sleep environment possible for the child and their age group.
At the end of the day parents are going to make their own decisions on what best works for their family but it’s important that it’s a decision that uses the safest measures possible and this study allows us to see the top risk factors to avoid when making those decisions.
