New SIDS Recommendations
We always want to keep you up-to-date on the latest health and safety recommendations for your children, and SIDS is a doozy! There are many, many pieces of advice on how to help prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), including putting your baby on a firm surface, always putting him to sleep on his back, and avoiding overheating.
In October, the guidelines were revisited and three new recommendations were added.
1. Infants should be breastfed when possible, because it has been shown to reduce cases of SIDS.
2. Infants should be immunized on schedule and go to all well-child visits.
3. Bumper pads should not be used at all. They can cause suffocation if an infant rolls against one and cannot roll away, or strangulation if the baby were to get caught in the pad's ties. Pediatricians assert that an infant cannot thrust himself against the rails of the cribs hard enough to harm himself.
In the past, bumper pads were often used to prevent babies crawling out from between crib slats and getting stuck; but in recent years the regulations have made it so the slats must be closer together.
To see a full list of the SIDS guidelines, you can visit HealthyChildren.org.
Photo used with permission of Flickr Creative Commons. Click on photo for source.
