What is SIDS?

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the unexplained death of an infant that remains unexplained after a complee autopsy and death scene investigation.

SIDS is the number one cause of death for infants between the ages of one month and one year.

SIDS, is sometimes also known as "crib death," strikes over 3,000 familes each year.

More babies die of SIDS than will die of AIDS, cystic fibrosis, childhood cancer, pneumonia, child abuse, and chilhood heart disease during their first fourteen years.

What SIDS is not:

SIDS is NOT caused by abuse or neglect.

SIDS is not caused by suffocation, vomiting or choking.

SIDS is not contagious.

SIDS is not hereditary.

SIDS is not caused by baby shots, vitamin deficiency or hormone imbalance.

SIDS is not caused by allergies or infection.

SIDS is not caused by a sleeping parent rolling over on a baby.

Facts About SIDS

The cause of SIDS is unkonw. At present, in spite of extensive researc, no single theory has been proven in the efforts to explain this mysterious disease. In a typical case, an infant, considered to be healthy, is put to bed without any sign of serious illness.

SIDS is not predictable. Presently, there is no certain way anyone can prevent a SIDS death. In a typical case of SIDS, there are no sign leading anyone to suspect that the baby's health is in danger. SIDS occasionally occurs in hospitals' in fact, many doctors and nurses have lost their own children to SIDS.

SIDS babies do not appear to suffer. SIDS is considered to be an almost instantaneous event with death occuring in seconds, usually during sleep, with no sign of disturbance.

SIDS does not discriminate. SIDS occurs in families of all social and economic levels. Cases of SIDS have been reported through history, as far back as the Old Testament.