"When will I feel like I don't have to check on her five times a night?" I asked my aunt when my daughter was nearing her first birthday. My aunt, whose son is now 21, confessed, "I still check on my boy when he's asleep. I don't think we ever outgrow that worry."
It's certainly true-- we moms are so terrified of SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, that the fear of this silent killer can haunt us well into our kids' toddler years, early childhoods, and even teens. My daughter is now almost four, and-- just as my aunt predicted-- I still check to make sure she's breathing when she seems to be sleeping just a little too heavily. But, realistically, just can we stop worrying about SIDS? Here are some points to consider.
1. SIDS rates peak between two and four months. The majority of SIDS cases happen in one specific high-risk period, between two and four months of age, so this is when moms should be most on guard. When my own daughter was three months old, I witnessed her stop breathing in her sleep and had to pinch her several times to snap her awake. I still grimly wonder what would have come of her had I not been nearby. It is during this stage that parents must be the most cautious about potential hazards, such as belly-sleeping, overheating, and soft mattresses. Turn your worry into constructive concern for your baby's wellbeing.
2. After six months, your baby's risk of SIDS declines rapidly. Over 90% of SIDS cases occur in babies younger than six months of age. Six-to-twelve-month-olds account for just one in ten SIDS cases, with the death rate among babies in each group declining weekly. A seven-month-old has a lower risk of SIDS than a six-month-old, an eight-month-old has a lower risk of SIDS than a seven-month-old, and exceedingly few babies die of SIDS after ten months. As the days move past your baby's half-birthday, you can rest easier with the reassurance that his health and hardiness are measurably improving each week.
3. The risk of SIDS vanishes almost entirely by a baby's first birthday.
By the time a baby turns 12 months old, his risk of sudden death is negligible. After this point, a SIDS diagnosis is considered essentially invalid, since the syndrome by-definition applies to babies under one year of age. After your child reaches his first birthday, you do not realistically need to worry about sudden death unless he has a medical condition that puts him at unusual risk.
4. Sudden death can happen to older kids, but it is extremely rare.
While you don't have to worry about SIDS after age one, a very rare medical condition can cause sudden death in older children. This condition, called Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood or SUDC, causes about 1 out of every 100,000 deaths in children-- making it more rare than being struck by lightning. Unlike SIDS, SUDC is extremely uncommon and also unpreventable-- so it is not at all constructive to worry about it. If you must, though, you can use it as an excuse for checking on your twelve-year-old at night.
5. Always make precautions for your baby's health.
My family lost a baby girl in the late 1980s, when parents were still taught to put babies on their stomachs to sleep. She was one of thousands of babies whose deaths could have been prevented by the use of common modern precautions. Today, we know that babies should absolutely always be placed on their backs to sleep-- with no exceptions-- to reduce the risk of SIDS. It is also inexcusable to smoke in a house with a baby or to place stuffed animals and blankets in the baby's crib-- these are all known to contribute to SIDS deaths. While it does no good to worry excessively about the risk of SIDS, you can make your fear constructive by taking steps to minimize your baby's risk.
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