Syndrome of sudden child death or death in the cradle. Causes and risk factors

Syndrome of sudden child death - an unexplained cause of death of children from birth to 1 year, sounds like a ridiculous verdict. It turns out that the risk of "death in the cradle" can be reduced by preventing dangerous factors.

Syndrome of sudden infant death( SIDS) or "death in the cradle" is called the unexplained cause of the death of an absolutely healthy child. The baby did not bother, he was healthy and cheerful before going to bed.

And in a few hours the baby heart has stopped forever - the baby will never wake up again, do not smile at his mother, will not cry and will not be pleased with the new toy. When shocked, heartbroken parents try to find out the cause of the tragedy, it turns out that the pathoanatomical examination can not explain why the child died. Then SIDS becomes the only diagnosis. Posthumous.

Doctors often can not explain the cause of infant death

The causes of sudden infant death syndrome

SIDS are not fully understood. Scientists only grow their hands when another tragedy happens to a healthy child from a happy family. Therefore, the exact causes of sudden death of infants have not yet been determined. We can only talk about the most probable causes, among which:

• sleep apnea
• heart rhythm disorder
• congenital pathology of arteries supplying blood to the brain
• aggregate of minor deterioration of state of health and nervous shock
• infectious processes in the body
• clamping of the vertebral artery

In addition to the causes of SIDSsome factors that can lead to tragedy:

• during pregnancy, the mother smoked, took drugs, consumed alcohol
• premature babyto
• there was a fetal developmental fetal development
• baby sleep on the side or on the stomach
• soft bed, use of a pillow for sleeping
• presence in the crib of toys, nipples, bottles
• high temperature in the bedroom
• parents smoking

Smoking during pregnancy can causeSIDS

IMPORTANT: If it is not possible to eliminate the causes that are not dependent on the circumstances and quality of life of the child, then to exclude most of the risk factors in order to protect the baby from SIDS,to the body.

Statistics of the syndrome of sudden infant death. Studies on the syndrome of sudden infant death

Based on medical research in recent years, SIDS statistics have appeared:

• children of white race die at 2 times more often than black children
• sudden death occurs in 3 children out of 1000
• 65% of the deaths of infants - male infants
• 90% of casesSIDS is at the age of 2-4 months
• the most dangerous age of the baby is 13 weeks
• 6 out of 10 cases of SIDS occur through the fault of the parents
• , 40% of children on the eve of death had signs of ARI( runny nose, mild cough,a significant increase in body temperature)
• lowest SIDS rates in the Netherlands and Israel( 0.1 per 1,000), the highest - in Italy and Australia
• majority of sudden infant deaths occur in the cold season( October - March)

IMPORTANT: Even if the child is in the SIDS risk zone for all indicators, do not worry much. It is necessary to exert maximum efforts to create favorable safe conditions for the baby and simply to wait out a dangerous period.

Many infants on the eve of death had a slight increase in temperature

To what age is the sudden infant death syndrome possible?

SIDS is considered to be the cause of the death of children from a newborn to one year old .But in fact, the risk of the syndrome decreases significantly with the child's ability to turn over himself, sit down, get up in bed, that is, after six months of .

When the child learns to turn, sit and crawl on his own, the risk of SIDS is reduced dramatically

Syndrome of sudden child death: truth and myths

The secret of SIDS is still unclear, perhaps that's why it overgrew with all sorts of terrible stories and terrible stories that in most casesare very far from the truth.

Joint sleep .The common myth of a joint dream of the mother and child convinces that the mother can crush the infant in a dream. Therefore, it is not recommended to sleep with your parents.

Video: Joint sleep with a child

In fact, a joint sleep with the mother is able to prevent SIDS.The baby synchronizes her breathing with the breath of her mother and breathes with her throughout the period of sleep. In addition, the mothers of babies sleep very sensitively. If the child is nearby, the mother is able to instantly recognize even the slightest deviations in the breathing or behavior of her baby.

Joint sleep with parents can cause SIDS in exceptional cases

IMPORTANT: In cases where the mother smokes and consumes alcohol, joint sleep, on the contrary, greatly increases the risk of SIDS.

Swaddling. There is an opinion that children who are not being swaddled die in a dream. Can I save the baby from the SIDS swaddling? I guess, yes. After all, if the baby's movements are not limited in any way, he can accidentally turn over or throw a blanket over his head.

IMPORTANT: Do not swaddle a child too tightly - this limits the breathing of the child and increases the risk of SIDS.

Tight swaddling can cause SIDS

SIDS and pacifier .Many mothers refuse to use pacifiers, because nothing good from a piece of rubber, in their opinion, should not wait. However, the most common dummy can reduce the risk of SIDS.The nipple will help the air to reach the respiratory organs, even if the baby accidentally turned over on his stomach or covered himself with a blanket.

IMPORTANT: It is best to begin to accustom a child to a dummy when breastfeeding is fully established. However, if the child refuses to take a pacifier, you do not need to insist.

Usual dummy can protect the baby from accidental death in sleep

Syndrome of sudden child death and vaccination

The vaccination start time coincides with the peak of infant mortality due to SIDS.This fact also began to arouse suspicions in mom-anti-vaccination. Still would. If some consider childhood vaccination the source of all troubles and health problems, why not, by ignorance, not to blame her for the death of babies?

But statistics and research results convince the contrary: grafted children die in sleep less than their non-vaccinated peers. In addition, the risk of dying from cardiac arrest or breathing in a dream during an infectious disease in a non-vaccinated child is much higher.

SIDS is in no way related to the routine vaccination of

When is the child death syndrome murderous?

Many children's deaths have quite understandable reasons. In most cases, the intentional or unintentional careless behavior of their parents leads to the death of babies. When the autopsy and the expert commission discovers violent factors, the diagnosis: "SIDS" changes to the verdict: "Murder."

Intentional strangulation. There are cases when the baby was intentionally strangled by one of his own parents. Angered at the prolonged loud crying, an adult man covered the helpless baby with a heavy pillow, blocking the access of oxygen.

Death due to shaking. At moments when adults shake the child by the shoulders, trying to soothe him, they do not even imagine that their baby is a hair's breadth from death. The neck of young children is still so weak that even a few sharp strong head vibrations can lead to serious brain damage. The consequences of such jolts are often loss of consciousness, coma and death.

Strangulation in a dream. Occurs unintentionally, during a joint sleep of the mother and child. Women who take sleeping pills, are prone to deep sleep or drink alcohol should not be placed next to themselves. The people about such cases say: "Slept a child."

The mother may inadvertently block the baby from breathing, crushing him in a dream

Prevention of sudden infant death syndrome

Prevention of SIDS does not give 100% guarantee that the baby will be all right, because it is impossible to predict the tragedy. But providing the child with the most favorable conditions, you can significantly reduce the risk of accidental death.

• The child should sleep only on the back. Sleep of the baby on the tummy several times increases the possibility of accidental strangulation. The kid can play for a short while lying on his stomach, but only in the presence of an adult
• a baby can not be overheated. Optimum temperature in the room for sleep should not exceed 22 ° C.
• . Do not cover the baby with a blanket; it is better to use a children's sleeping bag.
• . It is necessary to exclude a tight swaddling, as it squeezes the chest and prevents normal breathing.
• It is unacceptable for parents to emit strong smells of tobacco,spirits or alcohol
• You can not put the child in your bed, if the parents are very tired, took alcohol or sleeping pills, they can fall asleep
• So that the child does not get choked with vomit,it is necessary to hold it in a column, allowing it to bark
• . In the arena, do not use the sides and canopy - all these fashionable and beautiful accessories prevent the airflow into the baby cot.
• . You can not leave toys, rattles and pacifiers in the baby's crib
• .soft. The best option for sleeping a baby is a hard mattress
• . When the child falls asleep, you need to offer him a pacifier. Dummies pacifiers significantly reduce the risk of SIDS.
• . At least six months the child should sleep in the same room as the parents.

. The correct posture for sleeping a baby is lying on the back of the

. What should I do if the baby stops breathing?

If parents notice that the baby's breathing has stopped, it is necessary to act without delay. It is necessary to immediately take the child in his arms and with one quick movement to hold his fingers on his spine in a direction from the bottom up, try to wake up, slightly slowing down.

Then follows intense, but at the same time soft movements to massage the lobes of the ears, fingers on the arms and legs of the child. After such actions, breathing should return. After such a case, parents should contact the pediatrician as soon as possible.

IMPORTANT: If you can not return the baby yourself, you need to call an ambulance urgently and start resuscitation: artificial respiration and heart massage.

If the mother thought that the baby had stopped breathing, you should try to wake him up immediately

How to avoid the sudden infant death syndrome: advice and feedback

Tip # 1. To monitor the condition of babies at risk or who suffer from frequent long-term apneas,apply special sensors. They act on the principle of a baby monitor, they only react to prolonged stops of the baby's breathing and deviations of the heart rhythm. Also for the prevention of SIDS use fixatives, which prevent a child from turning over on the stomach during sleep.

Baby's respiratory sensor

Tip No. 2. You can avoid SIDS by giving your child special attention in such situations:

• any illness with fever, deterioration or difficulty of breathing
• sluggish condition, unreasonable fatigue, refusal to eat and drink
• deep sleep after strong prolonged crying
• sleep in new crib, with unusual conditions
• child age 2 - 4 months

Irina, Ruslan's mom( 1 year): I think that the first prevention of SIDS is breastfeeding. And the baby should sleep with his mother. Of course, at first you will have to remove all the pillows and blankets far away, which will bring certain inconveniences. But the child will feel safe, hearing the breath of his mother, and will be able to "tune" to a single rhythm with her.

Elena, Mama Yasmina( 5 months): I am very scared of SIDS, so I took all possible measures to prevent it: my daughter sleeps in our room in a separate bed, the mattress is hard, the room is constantly ventilated. In addition, my husband and I lead a healthy lifestyle - do not drink and do not smoke. Therefore, I believe that our baby is not threatened.

Vika, Angelina's mom( 7 months): The daughter was born deeply prematurely. In the first months of her life, she often had breath retardation in her sleep. I was very afraid of losing a child, so I literally watched the baby at night, listening to her breathing. When it seemed to me that she was not breathing, I picked her up and woke her up. My girl was angry and crying, but I calmed down. Now the apnea attacks have stopped, the daughter has grown stronger and has grown up. I'm not so afraid for her anymore.

Parents who got acquainted with the causes and factors contributing to the development of the syndrome of sudden infant death, it is necessary to try to do everything possible to reduce the likelihood of its occurrence. If the mother and father of the baby are observing all the rules for caring for the child, we can safely say about the minimal risks of the onset of SIDS.

Video: "Death in the cradle" Syndrome of sudden child death