How does SIDS kill the infant?
Nobody knows for sure, but it appears that the baby is suddenly unable to breathe or stops breathing, resulting in respiratory arrest and ultimately cardiac arrest. The causative mechanism for this event is not clear either. One can suspect that the upper airway somehow suddenly becomes blocked. Why? Science does not know. Anything new on SIDS? Yes, over the past several years, research has learned a very important lesson that can help reduce the risk of having SIDS: Keep the babies on their back when they sleep. Keeping the infants on their back when they sleep has tremendously reduced the incidence of Crib Deaths. The old teaching was that the babies should sleep on their tummy. That advice was abandoned because of the observation that the prevalence of SIDS was very low among those babies who slept on their back, and higher among those who slept on their stomach. Does sleeping on their back lead to choking? No, this is not true. There is no evidence that sleeping on their back incre
