Published-Oct. 7 2008 6:08 AM EDT AP
By CARLA K. JOHNSON - Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO(AP) Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for preventing SIDS, a still mysterious cause of death.
Experts also recommend a firm mattress, removing toys and pillows from cribs, and keeping infants from getting too warm.
Such practices helped slash U.S. SIDS deaths by more than half over a decade to about 2,100 in 2003. But SIDS remains the leading cause of death in infants ages 1 month to 1 year.
"The baby's sleeping environment really matters," said study senior author Dr. De-Kun Li of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. "This seems to suggest that by improving room ventilation we can further reduce risk."
SIDS is the sudden death of an otherwise healthy infant that can't be attributed to any other cause. These babies may have brain abnormalities that prevent them from gasping and waking when they don't get enough oxygen.
The new study, published in October's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, offers another way to make sure babies get enough air.
More research is needed, said Dr. Fern Hauck of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, but she said that because fan use is in line with theories, it may be worth considering.
"This is the first study that we know of that has looked at this issue," said Hauck, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics SIDS task force.
Researchers interviewed mothers of 185 infants who died from SIDS and mothers of 312 infants of similar race and age. Moms answered dozens of questions about their baby's sleeping environment.
Researchers took into account other risk factors and found that fan use was associated with a 72 percent lower risk of SIDS. Only 3 percent of the babies who died had a fan on in the room during their last sleep, the mothers reported. That compared to 12 percent of the babies who lived.
Using a fan reduced risk most for babies in poor sleeping environments.
The study involved infants in 11 California counties. It was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
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Comments: 34
Soo scary.
It just seems a bit of common sense to me.
Get this: He was sleeping ON HIS BACK, AND HAD A CEILING FAN ON LOW OVERHEARD!
His crib had NOTHING IN IT BUT HIS BABY BLANKIE, MATTERESS PAD, W/SHEET. And his mattress WAS A FIRM ONE AS IT WAS NEW.
So NOW tell me----if I did everything they NOW say is best to PREVENT SIDS back before they even knew what did or did not work WHY DID MY SON DIE?!
A bunch of crap...and studies like this always anger me and make me furious.
They are not claiming that it prevents SIDS they are saying it lowers the risk. From what I have read it is mainly because the air is being circulated better and reducing the amount of carbon dioxide the baby may breathe.
They have been also very clear over the years that they really don't know what causes SIDS and that the guidelines they posted in 1994 are suggestions that they have come up with from making their best educated guess from the information they know Since these guidelines were posted in 1994 SIDS rates have been reduced by half.
I gave birth to three children, and lived in fear of SIDS. It's frightening that you could lose your child to something not even doctors understand. I feel for the people who have lost their children that way. It's bad enough losing them, but the questions they ask must make it 10 times worse. Bad parents who kill their children make it harder on people who lose kids through no fault of their own.
I'm glad to hear they're still working on it. When they come up with a low-cost, easy-to-use breathing alarm, perhaps more kids will be saved. Although I've read articles where parents say that having the alarm is awful, too, because they're afraid they'll sleep through it.
All in all, it's a hard subject.
Here is a couple one of many articles about it that you can find on the internet.
http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZ6020XDBC&sub_cat=648
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/
Today, 51.
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