Sudden infant death syndrome (sids) - Research Paper Example

SIDS Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is defined as an unexpected death of an infant while sleeping without any obvious reasons or signs of struggle. The risk of SIDS is very high and sleeping environment is an important condition to consider for the sake of infants safety. Many parents believe that sleeping in one bed with their baby they can prevent the cause of sudden death and be sure that he or she is safe. Contrary to their beliefs, sleeping in one bed cannot prevent SIDS; it only increases the syndrome as it is proved by numerous studies conducted in various parts of the world.

It is not a new discovery that bed sharing is not the right way to prevent SIDS. According to Mitchell et al. (1997), SIDS risk factors are presented by prone sleeping position, side sleeping position, supine sleeping position, maternal smoking and bed-sharing at the initial contact. Moreover, the risk SIDS caused by bed-sharing is even higher if a child is exposed to maternal smoking. Moon et al. (2007) analyzes more factors and adds soft surface, pillow use and head/face covered with bedding to the risk factors of SIDS.

At the same time, Moon et al. (2007) provides detailed analysis of risks caused by bed sharing overall, bed sharing with parents or one parents and bed sharing in other combinations stating that bed sharing in other combinations is the most dangerous as it adds 5% to the risk of SIDS. The use of pacifier decreases risks of SIDS as it is mentioned by Moon et al. (2007). These two studies clearly show that bed sharing does not help parents to protect their children from SIDS; however, even though this information is widely available, parents still ignore the facts.

The study by Blair et al. (2014) solves the issue of relative insignificance of risks associated with bed sharing. In 36% of all cases considered in the study infants were found sleeping with their parents. This study shows that co-sleeping on the sofa or bed sharing with a parent or relative who consumed more than 2 units of alcohol boost the risk of SIDS not matter whether they are newborns or 2-3 month of age. Exposure to someone who smokes is very dangerous for infants at first contact; however, older infants are not significantly influenced by it.

All three studies mentioned above warn parents that they should not sleep with their infants in one bed. Even though it seems to be safer psychologically, any inaccurate movement can harm or even kill the infant. There are many gadgets that can be used to monitor the state of infants during their sleep; if parents are too worried about their child, they can use them to be sure that everything ok and their baby feels good.In summary, any situation where parents share bed with their infants increases the chances of SIDS to happen.

Moreover, parents who drink alcohol or smoke expose their children to a greater risk of SIDS than other cases. Carrying does not mean sleeping in one bed; parents should focus on the solutions that reduce risks of SIDS such as pacifier use. ReferencesBlair, P. S., Sidebotham, P., Pease, A., & Fleming, P. J. (2014). Bed-sharing in the absence of hazardous circumstances: Is there a risk of sudden infant death syndrome? An analysis from two case-control studies conducted in the UK. Plos one, 9(9), e107799.

Mitchell, E. A., Tuohy, P. G., Brunt, J. M., Thompson, J. M., Clements, M. S., Stewart, A. W., . & Taylor, B. J. (1997). Risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome following the prevention campaign in New Zealand: a prospective study. Pediatrics, 100(5), 835-840.Moon, R. Y., Horne, R. S., & Hauck, F. R. (2007). Sudden infant death syndrome. The Lancet, 370(9598), 1578-1587.