How To Help Reduce the Risk of SIDS
Parents now no longer need to worry about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). They can now do a hands-on method to reduce the risks involved for their newborn. SIDS seem to result from a variety of factors including difficulty in breathing, underdevelopment of cardio-respiratory control functions, unsafe sleeping practice, and several other medical conditions.
Dr. William Sears, a practicing pediatrician for over 30 years and who has eight children proposes that the subsequent steps that can lower the risk of SIDS can aid parents in diminishing the risk and building a cultivating, secure, and relaxed environment for their child, both when the child is still inside the womb or after he is born.
The first step is to provide a healthy environment for your baby while he is still inside the womb. A healthy environment leads to a healthy life. Studies show that the risk of SIDS is higher with prematurely conceived children, although 99 percent of them do not die because of this cause. Even when you haven’t given birth to your child yet, you can start making the right choices for him to decrease the risk of having more health problems after birth. Dr. Sears advised mothers to eat foods with high nutrients and to keep their babies away from a dirty environment. His life inside the womb will greatly affect a baby upon birth.
After the baby’s birth, Dr. Sears advises the mother to keep the baby comfortably warm but not too warm. A baby needs proper ventilation just like a normal person. Overheating has been seen as one of the causes of SIDS in many situations. Keeping the baby in a very hot place will affect his breathing and will most likely affect his rest and sleep. The abnormal changes in temperature may cause the respiratory system of a baby to fail.
He also advises mothers to avoid over-bundling. Consequent overheating has been shown to increase the risk of SIDS. Overheating may disrupt the normal neurological control of sleep and breathing. The respiratory control center in the brain is affected by abnormal changes in temperature, and SIDS researchers believe that overheating may cause respiratory control centers in some babies to fail.
See to it that your baby’s head is uncovered. Do not make him wear bonnets on hot days if you are only inside the house because this will make him feel uncomfortable and restless. Put him to sleep on his side or on his back. When the baby sleeps on his stomach with his cheek and abdominal organs touching the bedding, these major areas of heat discharge are enclosed, thus preserving heat. Also keep in mind never to bundle a baby especially when he is sick as this only increases his temperature. Keep your baby’s room not too cold or not too hot but just enough to keep him ventilated and comfortable. In general, dress your baby as much or as little as you would dress yourself depending on the weather.