What is your take on preventing SIDS???

Question

Our australian guidelines for preventing SIDS seems to differ quite a bit from other countries. What were you told about SIDS when you had your babies or what do you think you can do to prevent SIDS?

I was told a lot about the sleeping safety like,
No cot bumpers, quilts, pillows or toys in the cot
No netting around cot
Always place baby on their back (use a sleep positioner if you want to)
Place them with their feet at the end of the cot with the excess blanket tucked under the mattress (never in the middle unless they are older and wriggle around)
No loose bedding, tuck everything securely or put baby in a grow bag for warmth
Avoid cigarette smoke
Dummies can help to prevent sids

I always seem to see docmentarys and pictures of people in america and other countries with their cots full of fancy frills, bumpers and toys when we are told never to use any of those things until at least age 1 when SIDS deaths seem to lower dramatically.

What do you think?

Answer 1

You were told the same things I was. I'm from Wyoming (US). I don't think most people have all that stuff in their cribs, honestly. Or the ones that do, I hope often remove all that extra stuff when baby is actually sleeping in the crib. The only thing I've heard differently is that the risk of SIDS is still there until age 2. Hope this helps~

Answer 2

Although I'm American, I live in Switzerland where both of our children were born.
My midwife said that the best way to prevent SIDS was to breast feed for at least one year.
Most of the other things you mention were more like general safety precautions against suffocation, not SIDS.
I think many of those overdecorated cribs in the US are emptied once the baby's put down to sleep. Kind of like using throw pillows on an adult bed. I don't think they let the babies sleep around all that stuff - I know my sister didn't.

Answer 3

I'm from Australia too, and I was told all those things as well. Another thing I was told was NOT to co-sleep with my baby, as our experts believed it raised the SIDS risk.

I've since learned from my own research that co-sleeping done safely reduces the risk of SIDS, which was reassuring for me as I always co-slept anyway.

Answer 4

I teach a course for Family Day Care providers that includes the same information you have, and most parents in the US follow most of it all the time. What you see on TV and in movies are sets dressed to look pretty by people who know nothing about kids and babies who are mostly mechanical dolls, or are "actors" who are never left alone and only allowed on the set fro a few minutes at a time.

Answer 5

im american and we are told the same things... most people ignore it once the baby is old enought to roll around and pick up its head. i believe that last year there was a breakthrough in a new study that linked SIDS to some kind of brain defect. they said it was something in the childs brain that made them develop SIDS. i havent heard anything else on it but im sure you could find it.

Answer 6

I was told the same as you, except for the dummies. I can't remember when but someone told me they was a cause of SIDS. I just have always believed it.

although you know the bears that come out every year for red nose day?? i have bought one for every year since i found out I was pregnant. And my kids are still very much alive. superstition.

Answer 7

i have three children aged 10,4,2, and i have have been told the same as you