Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the "sudden death of an infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after a complete investigation, which includes an autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the symptoms or illnesses the infant had prior to dying and any other pertinent medical history."

It most commonly occurs between the ages of 1 and 4 months and usually while your baby is sleeping. Fortunately, the incidence of SIDS has decreased dramatically in recent years. This has been thought to be secondary to the Back to Sleep campaign that instructs parents to put their infants to sleep on their backs and not their side or stomachs.

The most important thing that you can do to prevent SIDS is to put your baby to sleep on his back (sleeping on his side is not as safe, especially if he can roll over onto his stomach) and never put him down alone on a water bed, bean bag, or soft blanket that can cover his face and cause choking. Also make sure that daycare personal or baby-sitters also know to put your baby to sleep on his back.

Another risk factor for SIDS may be thermal stress or getting overheated. To avoid this you should provide your infant with a comfortable room temperature that isn't too warm or hot and avoid excessive bedclothes, covering the head and too much bundling.

While bedsharing may not increase the risk of SIDS, it is also not thought to be protective.

Exposure to second hand smoke is a definite risk factor, and it is probably not enough to just smoke outside the house.

Lastly, breastfeeding is thought to be protective against SIDS.

Daycare Index would like to thank Vincent Iannelli, M.D. for this information in striving to make Daycare Index an efficient and useful tool for parents. All material was used by permission of Keep Kids Healthy, LLC., which can be found on the Web at www.keepkidshealthy.com. All rights reserved.