How does breastfeeding protect the baby from SIDS?

Answer 1

Sleeping


Nighttime can often be the most challenging time for new parents. Newborns do not follow the same sleeping schedule in which you are accustomed. It is important to remember that it is normal for babies not to sleep through the night. Babies are constantly growing and need plenty of nourishment to help them develop. In addition, babies stomach’s are very small and can only hold a small amount of food at a time, and need to eat more often. Therefore, a baby may wake up several times per night to be fed. A newborn may also wake up in the middle of the night because he or she does not know the difference between night and day.
Tips for Nighttime
Take a Nap
SIDS – Sudden Infant Death
What To Expect



Tips for Nighttime



Below are some tips to help you and your newborn through the night.
Place your newborn’s crib in your room, close to your bed.

Make sure you can hear any cries or noises your newborn makes. (This is his or her way of telling you it is time for another feeding.)

Bring your baby into your bed for a feeding, so you will have an easier time going back to sleep after the feeding.

Keep the lights low and avoid playing or talking with the baby so you can begin establishing “nighttime”.

Begin nighttime rituals such as giving your baby a bath before putting him or her to sleep. This may help relax the baby and as your baby gets older, can help establish a “bedtime” routine.



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Take a Nap



If your baby takes a nap in the afternoon, you should also take a nap. Rather than use the time to work around the house, take advantage of the quiet time to get some much needed sleep. Accept help from your friends and family members – if they offer to bring you dinner, clean the house or run errands – take them up on the offer! You’ll be better rested to continue taking care of your baby throughout the day and into the night.

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SIDS – Sudden Infant Death


SIDS is the leading cause of death in infants between one month of age and one year. The following precautions listed below can reduce the risk of SIDS.
Place your baby on his or her back to sleep. Babies that sleep on their stomach are more likely to die from SIDS.

Make sure your baby is sleeping on a firm mattress. Soft, fluffy items including pillows, quilts and stuffed animals should not be in the crib when the baby is sleeping.

Always maintain a smoke-free environment around your baby. Do not allow anyone to smoke near your baby. Do not take your baby to places where people may be smoking.

Breastfeeding can help protect your baby from many illnesses, including SIDS.

Babies should be kept warm, but not too warm so as to cause the baby to overheat.



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What To Expect


Although every baby is different, below is general information on what you can expect from your newborn’s sleeping patterns.

Newborns typically have one four- to five-hour sleep period, often occurring during the day. Parents can gradually shift the sleep period from day to night by keeping stimulation to a minimum during normal sleep hours and lights low during nighttime feedings.

Many newborns can sleep five consecutive hours once feeding is well established.

Your baby may still sleep much of the day but during waking hours, he or she is definitely becoming more alert and noticing his or her surroundings.

By one month old, the three- to five-hour sleep period may have shifted to the night.


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Fast Facts About SIDS


SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, is defined as the sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of any infant or young child.


SIDS accounts for about half of the deaths that occur between one month and one year of age.


Genetics plays a large role. SIDS is more common in boys than in girls, and it is more common in some population groups (Black, Native American, Hawaiian, Filipino, Maori).


Most of the affected infants have damaged or immature brainstems, making it difficult for them to wake up when they are in trouble. A recent series of autopsies has demonstrated visible brain abnormalities in over 70 percent of the SIDS babies examined (Pediatric Neurology, Jul 1998).


While parents often feel horribly responsible after SIDS, sometimes there is nothing they could have done to prevent it.


Almost 35,000 healthy babies in Italy had EKGs performed in the first week of life. They were then followed for a year. Most of those who ended up dying of SIDS had an abnormality on their original EKGs (a prolonged QTc interval). Those with this abnormality were more than 40 times more likely than their peers to die from SIDS (New England Journal of Medicine, Jun 11, 1998).


Anything that causes less oxygen to get to the baby in the uterus will increase his or her risk. On average, smoking during pregnancy doubles the chances, and the odds increase with each cigarette. Other drugs of abuse such as cocaine or heroine increase the risk by as many as thirty times.


The media often focus on "crack babies," but tobacco use continues in approximately 25% of all pregnancies in the United States (J Pharmacol Exp Ther, Jun 1998). Nicotine exposure is responsible for many more SIDS deaths than any other drug of abuse, including cocaine. Stopping smoking during pregnancy is the most immediate step we can take to save infants' lives.


Minimizing caffeine use during pregnancy is another way to protect your child. Those babies whose mothers drank 4 or more cups of coffee per day could have up to twice the risk of SIDS (Arch Dis Child, Jan 1998).


SIDS is more common in babies who sleep in warm environments, who are over-bundled, who sleep in rooms with space heaters, who are exposed to cigarette smoke, who sleep on soft surfaces, who do not use pacifiers, and those who sleep face down or in a prone position.


The rate of SIDS is higher in those babies who do not receive timely well-child care and immunizations.


Putting children to sleep on their backs lowers the risk of SIDS by about three times. Use firm bedding in a slightly cool room.


Breastfeeding may also reduce the risk of SIDS, but the studies remain inconclusive.


The SIDS rate has dropped by more than half in the last few years to 0.7 per one thousand live births in the United States. Changes in sleeping positions are being credited for the reductions (AAP News, Jan 98).


The peak period for SIDS is between two and four months old. It is very rare before one month of age, and at least 95% of all the cases have occurred before children reach six months old.



Alan Greene MD FAAP

August 03, 1998
Reviewed by Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin MD September 2000




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Links to other articles you might find interesting
Minimizing The Risk Of SIDS
Baby Waking at Night?
Breastfeeding and Saving Lives
Coffin Birth
Could SIDS Be Contagious?
Crib Safety
Dangers of Parental Smoking
Fast Facts About Thumb Sucking
Fast Facts About Trisomy 13
Flat Heads and Tummy Time
Infant Mortality
Misshapen Heads Due To Back Sleeping
Pacifiers and SIDS?
Rising Life Expectancy, Rising Infant Mortality
Safe Bedding To Help Prevent SIDS
Screening to Prevent SIDS?
Secondhand Smoke Robs Vitamin C from Children
SIDS and Sleeping Arrangements
SIDS And Wine
SIDS Cause Uncovered
SIDS Prevention and Flat Heads
SIDS Reminder
SIDS, The Family Bed, & The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission
Sleeping with SIDS
Smoking Changes Kids’ Genes
Smoking During Pregnancy Increases!
Smoking Outside
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Swaddling and Sleep
Update on Vaccine - Related Deaths


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Answer 2

breast feeding is supposed to reduce the risk, along with not smoking during pregnancy, or taking illegal drugs... Making sure there is nothing that can suffocate your little one in the crib is important. They make sleep monitors that you place under your baby while they sleep and they have an alarm unit that you carry with you and if the baby experiences a period of apnea (not breathing) your alarm will go off and you can run into the room and rub the baby's back to stimulate breathing... if you're really worried buy one of these monitors at a Babies R Us or some other similar baby store. No hereditary risk for SIDS that they have found... however there could be a disease running in the family that is resulting in these unexplained infant deaths... SIDS is basically just the term given to babies that die for no reason that can be explained by an autopsy or physician... it is not a disease in and of itself, and in reality one infant that dies of SIDS is not likely to have perished from the same cause as another SIDS death... unfortunately... It makes us all fear, it scares the crap outa me too love. Just try to have faith and try not to stress too much. PS-My babies have all been tummy sleepers too and no SIDS... so I'm not sold on the "back to sleep" thing either.

Answer 3

Whether it is the milk, the mother, or the method that is responsible for the lower SIDS risk in the breastfed infant is hard to tell. It's probably a combination of all three.

THE MILK
There are hundreds of substances in human milk that aren't in artificial milk. These cannot be manufactured or bought; they can only be made by mother. Each year researchers discover new factors in human milk that are beneficial to baby. I suspect that researchers have only scratched the surface of what amazing factors exist in human milk. The following is what we know. What is even more intriguing is what we do not yet know about how human milk benefits human babies in general and how it lowers the risk of SIDS in particular.

THE MOTHER
Not only does breastmilk have protective qualities for baby, breastfeeding does good things for mother, which indirectly may reduce the risk of SIDS.

THE METHOD
Besides the good stuff in breastmilk and the act of breastfeeding itself with its increased "touch time," the way an infant breastfeeds may also lower the risk of SIDS.

Answer 4

There are several ideas on why this is... the baby is healthier overall due to antibodies given by the mother's milk, thus decreasing risk of becoming sick. Also, a baby who is given formula, which is heavier, sleeps longer and deeper than a breastfed baby. This sounds great when you are sleep deprived, but is actually a contributor to SIDS. Babies should be in a 'lighter' sleep, and wake frequently, as their bodies are still developing. Also, I think most of us who nurse our newborns sleep in the same room (or even same bed) thus we are able to listen to our babies and can detect any breathing problems.

Answer 5

Breast-feeding, smoking prevention can stop SIDS

ATLANTA (AP) — New mothers who don't breast-feed and those who smoke after giving birth place their babies at strong risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, government researchers said Monday.

More on SIDS

• Cause of SIDS remains elusive



Placing babies on their backs for sleep has long been the focus of the campaign to prevent SIDS, which kills about 3,000 infants each year.

But a study presented at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conference in Atlanta suggests that breast-feeding and protecting babies from secondhand smoke may be just as important.

The study of 117 SIDS cases in Louisiana in 1997 and 1998 found 55% of the deaths could have been prevented had the mothers breast-fed their children. Studies have shown breast-feeding can help prevent respiratory problems sometimes related to SIDS.

The study also said 27% of the deaths could have been prevented if mothers had not smoked after delivery, exposing their children to secondhand smoke.

The link between sleeping position and SIDS was low enough in the study to be deemed statistically insignificant, the authors said.

SIDS — the name coined for unexpected deaths of seemingly healthy babies — kills more infants each year than cancer, heart disease, pneumonia and AIDS combined. Its precise cause has puzzled scientists for decades.

SIDS deaths have dropped by about 40% since 1994, when the American Academy of Pediatrics launched a "Back to Sleep" campaign to encourage parents not to place infants on their stomachs at bedtime.

But the SIDS death rate appeared to begin leveling off in the late 1990s.

"The 'Back to Sleep' campaign may have been effective ... but increasing 'Back to Sleep' will not eliminate SIDS," said John Painter, a CDC epidemiologist who led the study.

Judy Jacobson, executive vice president of the SIDS Alliance, said placing infants on their backs remains the best way to prevent SIDS.

"There are still large pockets of the population in the United States that do not know about this recommendation — or if they do, have decided not to follow it," Jacobson said.

Critics at the conference pointed out that the study excluded the possible link between deaths and the firmness of a child's bedding. The bedding data was thrown out because it was unreliable, Painter said.

Answer 6

I have no idea but it might just be the fact that you are picking the baby up more than a bottle fed child
& disturbing the stale air that the baby breathes out as they say it can be toxic if breathed in
They don't really know what causes it do they?
& i don't know if that is the reason for it
It was mentioned once when my kids were babies so
I always had fresh air in the room because it did make sense to me

Answer 7

I'm not sure. Breastfeeding is healthier all the way around, but I'm not sure why it protects against SIDS.

Answer 8

it gives antibodies to the baby, that makes less of a chance of the baby to get sick. breastfeeding is more healthier than bottle feeding and formula. it lowers the risk of sids. and it give the mother and baby time to bond.

Answer 9

The biggest reason is the mother's heartbeat regulates the babies for the first few months. Also, a brestfed baby wakes more frequently to eat.

Answer 10

they arent actually sure yet. They've conducted studies, and found that fewer breast fed babies die of SIDS. Also they found recently that fewer babies who are put to sleep with a pacifier die of SIDS as well.

Answer 11

the best protection comes from nursing your infant who is sleeping with you. this natural method, the way it was allllwaaaaayyyyyssss done, keeps the baby from falling into too deep and sleep and allows her to regulate the nutrition coming from the human milk.