Back in the mid-70s, when I was a young working mother of two, I found a wonderful middle-aged woman to be my daycare provider. My children loved her, and I loved her. She was one of those rare individuals who can treat another person’s child as though that child were her own. She cared for only one or two other children during the day, one of whom was a baby girl about 8 months old.

One day when I returned from work to fetch my children, she met me at the door with tear-filled eyes, and told me that her teenage daughter had gone into the room where the infant took naps in a day-crib she had set up and, sensing that something was wrong with the sleeping baby, ran to tell her mother. My wonderful daycare provider found a lifeless baby who had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. I had never heard of this before and had no clue what it meant. She explained that it is a term used when a child dies in its sleep for no apparent reason. This baby had been napping on her tummy at the time of death.

That was the last time I saw her—she stopped babysitting that day, forever.

According to the American SIDS Institute (http://www.sids.org), Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is “the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history.”

There are things you can do to minimize the risks of such a heartbreak occurring. Here are five important ways to protect your infant:

1. Put baby’s bed in your bedroom. Studies have proven that babies are safer when closer to their mothers. Mothers are more likely to sense when something’s wrong if their child is sleeping in the same room.
2. Don’t co-sleep with your baby. Baby can become buried under pillows or blankets, and may snuggle so closely to you that he cannot breathe freely. Be especially vigilant if you have taken medication that makes you drowsy, and after you have been drinking.
3. Use a firm crib mattress and remove all blankets, toys, pillows, and other objects from the crib when baby is sleeping. Babies wriggle and can become buried underneath such items making breathing difficult.
4. Put baby to sleep on her back. Studies have shown that babies who sleep on their backs are less likely to die of SIDS.
5. Be sure baby is not overheated. Dress your baby as you would dress yourself. Make sure bedtime clothing is not so loose that it “bunches” up around baby’s face while sleeping.

Your infant may be at greater risk of SIDS in any of the following situations:

• Baby is around tobacco smoke regularly.
• You are a teen mother. Babies born to young mothers are at a higher risk of SIDS.
• If you are a teen mother, the more babies you have, the greater the risk of SIDS for those children.
• You have become pregnant within 1 year of your child’s birth. There is a higher risk of SIDS in families with short intervals between pregnancies.
• Babies between 8 weeks and 10 weeks of age are at the highest risk of SIDS.

If you, or someone you know, have recently experienced the death of a child, get help to deal with the grief.

Order the brochure Help For Families When An Infant or Young Child Dies provided by The Sudden Unexplained Death In Childhood Program (http://www.sudc.org) “as a service to help both the professionals and families affected by sudden death to communicate effectively and sympathetically to those in need.”

Stay safe and be happy.

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