Reduce Your Baby’s Risk for SIDS By Half

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is an unspeakable tragedy in which a healthy baby under the age of one year dies while asleep. Some people call SIDS “crib death” since this is the usual location of the baby at the time of death. Researchers are getting closer to finding the cause for this mysterious syndrome which, to the naked eye, seems unexplainable.

In 2017, for instance, researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH), found that levels of serotonin are higher than normal in the tissues of infants that have died of SIDS. Earlier, in 2010, NIH researchers had exactly the opposite finding: lower levels of serotonin in babies who died from SIDS. Serotonin is a brain chemical that helps to relay messages between cells. Overall, the research suggests that problems with how the body handles serotonin may raise the risk of SIDS. Too high or too low serotonin levels, may contribute to SIDS by interfering with the infant’s ability to respond to potentially life-threatening situations during sleep.

Think about it: you are sleeping face down on your pillow and your nose becomes blocked. Even without waking up, your natural response would be to turn your head so you can get more oxygen. Researchers think that abnormal levels of serotonin in the infant who dies of SIDS means the brain fails to kick in with the self-preservation response that would allow the baby to get more oxygen. Since the baby fails to turn his or her head, the unfortunate result is asphyxiation.

Note that this is only a theory. Still, doctors have LONG known that the rate of SIDS is far lower in babies that are put to sleep on their backs or sides. This was the catalyst for the “Back to Sleep” campaign, begun in 1994 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), now known as the Safe to Sleep campaign.

A baby that sleeps on its back or side, doesn’t encounter breathing challenges during sleep because there is no partial or full blockage to his or her air passages.

Could Inflammation or Infection Play a Role in SIDS?

A new study has uncovered a surprising possibility in the search for answers about SIDS: inflammation in the brain. Researchers in Australia studied brain tissue from babies who had died of SIDS and found higher levels of a substance called neopterin, which the body makes when the immune system is active. In one baby, they even found signs of a common virus in the brain.

This has led scientists to wonder if some babies who die of SIDS might be dealing with an infection or inflammation that affects how their brain controls basic functions—like breathing and waking up. If a baby has a hidden infection, even one that doesn’t cause symptoms, it might disrupt the brain’s ability to respond during sleep when something goes wrong, such as rebreathing air or getting too warm.

This research supports what experts call the “triple-risk model.” That’s the idea that SIDS happens when three things overlap: a baby is going through a vulnerable stage of development, has an underlying problem we can’t see, and is placed in an unsafe sleep environment. Even something as simple as a mild virus might act as the tipping point in a baby whose body can’t respond properly.

Right now, there’s no way to test for this kind of hidden inflammation or vulnerability. But researchers hope that learning more will eventually lead to better ways to protect babies—possibly even new screening tests. In the meantime, following safe sleep guidelines remains the most effective way to reduce your baby’s risk.

Why The Reluctance?

In 2022, 1,529 babies died of SIDS, the most recent year for which CDC statistics are available. Moreover, SIDS is the leading cause of death in infants between the ages of one month and one year. Why is it then that parents, who constantly crawl the Internet for information and advice on baby care, fail to embrace this basic practice that is such a persuasive element in the prevention of SIDS?

Perhaps it has to do with the quality of a baby’s sleep when the infant is placed on its back? This author once approached the pediatrician to complain her baby didn’t sleep soundly when placed on his back or stomach, to which the pediatrician responded, “That’s the point. You don’t want the baby to sleep so soundly he forgets to BREATHE.”

‘Nuff said.

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