When my toddler was a baby, I lived in fear of sudden infant death syndrome. The thought that a child, my child, could just die from no apparent malady, affliction or action and there was a chance, albeit slim, that she'd just suddenly stop breathing, totally freaked me out. I like it when there are reasons and answers. But the mystery of how or when SIDS may strike is one that is a prevailing fear in paranoid parents like me.
When my daughter was an infant, I’d go to her room several times throughout the night, just to make sure she was breathing. Fortunately, she always was. But the fear still lingered. Had I known about this new study, I would have slept much better. A report published this month in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine states that keeping a simple fan on in your child’s room as they sleep cuts down on SIDS. Along with having your child sleep on their back, a firm mattress, removing pillows and toys from cribs, and not letting babies get to warm, this new addition is to simply make sure that there is adequate air circulation.
The pieces of the puzzle are coming together, and although the before mentioned practices cut the death rate in half, SIDS is still the leading cause of death for babies from one month to one year of age. Hopefully with some fans, this number will go down even further.
Via AP
