October is SIDS Awareness Month

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Harvey Karp, America's #1 pediatrician and best-selling author of the top parent guides: Happiest Baby on the Block & Happiest Toddler on the Block and creator of SNOO, the only baby bed ever given FDA De Novo authorization as proven safe and effective for keeping sleeping babies securely positioned on the back, has information to share.

Sudden death during sleep tragically claims the lives of 3,400 U.S. babies each year—at a rate that hasn't changed in over 20 years.

These deaths are listed as Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID), which includes babies who die from a known cause, like suffocation, as well as those who die without a clear cause, such as from SIDS. (About 50% of SUID cases in the U.S. are categorized as SIDS.)

SIDS is not a topic anyone wants to think about—but thankfully, there are many ways to reduce your baby's risk.

Proven Ways to Help Reduce the Risk of SUID

Providing a safe sleep environment is the most important step you can take to reduce your baby's risk of SIDS. For example, two-thirds of sleep-related deaths occurred when a baby was surface-sharing with another person, and in 64% of sleep-related deaths, the baby was found on their stomach or side, according to the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention. 

Putting your baby to sleep on their back is still the single most effective thing you can do to lower your baby's risk of SUID.

In addition to putting babies to sleep on the back, Dr. Karp offers some other steps parents can take that are proven to help their precious one snooze safely:

• Place your baby to sleep on the back on a firm sleep surface until they're 1 year old.
• Make sure your baby is in their own sleep space that's free of loose bedding, bumpers, soft toys, and pillows.
• Sleep in the same room as your baby for at least six months.
• Do not co-sleep or sofa-sleep with your baby.
• If your baby falls asleep in a car seat, stroller, swing, infant carrier, nursing pillow, or pillow-like lounging pad, promptly move them to their crib or bassinet.
• Offer a pacifier at bedtime. (If breastfeeding, do so after nursing is well established.)
• Avoid exposure to smoke.
• Don't overdress your baby or turn the thermostat too high (overheating is a SIDS risk factor).
• Keep your baby up to date on their immunizations.

The things that improve infant sleep are swaddling, sound, and motion. The Academy of Pediatrics recommends stopping swaddling at around two or three months of age when baby can roll over because sleeping on the stomach while swaddled is unsafe.  They recommend only using safe motion (in a totally flat environment) and safe levels of sound.

• SNOO was created to provide all three of those classic sleep enhancing technique safely, including keeping babies secured when swaddled to allow the babies to benefit from safe, swaddling all the way up to six months of age.
• SNOO is the only bed shown in medical studies to improve infant sleep. And the only baby bed ever given FDA De Novo authorization as proven safe and effective for keeping sleeping babies securely positioned on the back.

Dr. Harvey Karp is available for Zoom or in-person interviews.

Media Contact:
Maury Rogoff
9178657530
[email protected]

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SOURCE Happiest Baby, Inc.