 1 month - 1 year olds  No found reasoning of death  “Crib death”

 Smoking  Drinking  Drug use  Less than 20 years old  Low weight gain  STDs or urinary tract infection  Poor prenatal care Risk Factors DURING PREGNANCY

After pregnancy  Stomach sleeping  Prematurity Low birth weight  Exposure to smoke after birth  Overheating From clothes or bedding

 Newborns with a heart abnormality were 41 times more likely to be at risk.

The Facts  All kinds of families Not racist  Seemingly healthy infants  Fall and winter months have most cases  Before 6 months 1-4 months  During sleep No signs of suffering  Most likely to happen: Boys Premature and low- weight infants Twins and triplets  Leading cause of death in infants between 1 month-1 year  Determined after all else ruled out  NO ONE KNOWS THAT CAUSES SIDS!

SIDS PREVENTION

Back to sleep  An infant should be put to sleep on its back  New parents should talk to doctor about sleeping positions  Some health conditions require tummy-down sleeping

Non-fluffy bedding  Sleep on firm mattress or surface  Avoid using fluffy accessories under infant  Infant under 1 year should not sleep on waterbed or with stuffed toys

Good prenatal care  Proper nutrition  Avoiding alcohol, drugs and smoking  Frequent checkups starting early in the pregnancy Helps prevent or detect abnormalities

No smoking  Infants born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy are 3x more likely to die from SIDS  Exposure after birth doubles risk  Negative impact on lung development  Smoke-free environment CRUCIAL

Cool room temperature  Overheated- more likely to go into a deep sleep It is hard to wake them  Overheat Clothing Heavy bedding Room too warm

Breastfeeding  Less common  Breast milk can provide extra protection and immunity from infections that can trigger SIDS

Regular Health Care  Regular checkups and have immunization shots on schedule  May be genetic Not strong connection  Doctor should be told if SIDS is in family history  Genetic blood screening test can be done to see if parent carries a contributing gene  Infant may be tested after birth

Add a fan  Recent studies show that rooms having a fan in the room to help ventilation has lowered the risk of SIDS

SIDS IS NOT:  Contagious  Caused by immunization  Caused by child abuse  Caused by vomiting, choking, colds or infections  The cause of every unexpected infant death  Anyone’s fault

SBS

What is SBS?  Shaken Baby Syndrome  Group of symptoms resulting from the shaking of a small child and/or a child’s head hitting something

 Small children have weak neck muscles and large, heavy heads  Neck muscles cannot support head well  When infant is shaken, brain is tossed around inside of head.  The pressure can cause retina to bleed- blindness  Blood vessels feeding the brain are torn away Brain damage or abnormalities  Bleeding inside of skull More pressure

Symptoms of shaking  Limp arms and legs  Excessive drooling  Seizures  Death  Unexplained vomiting  Not breathing  No pulse Heart stops

Long-term consequences  Mental retardation  Problems seeing correctly or blindness  Speech disabilities  Seizures  Learning disabilities  Hearing Loss  Physical disabilities  Death

Why and how does this happen?  No empathy for child  Poor coping skills to handle child  Frustration  Shakes the baby with a harmful amount of force It is not known how much force is required to cause brain injury when infant is shaken.

Ways to calm down  Take several deep breaths and count to ten  Say the alphabet  Read a poem that gives you inspiration  Put the infant in a safe place, then leave the room for a few minutes  Create a new, distracting noise to get the infant’s attention. Do not make the noise too loud.

 Close your eyes and think of something pleasant  Ask someone else to help—a crisis hotline may be available  Try hugging and cuddling the infant.  Try gentle motion, like rocking or an infant swing

Works cited SIDS  ids ids    Mrs. Hanock’s handout SBS  m m  Mrs. Hanock’s handout