About SIDS and SUID | CDC (2024)

FAQs

What is the relationship between SIDS and Suid? ›

The sudden and unexpected death of an infant due to natural or unnatural causes. Causes of SUID and SUDI can include: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) – SIDS is one of several causes of SUID/SUDI. However, SIDS, unlike the other SUID/SUDI causes, is a diagnosis of exclusion.

SIDS is the leading cause of death among infants 1 month to 1 year old, and remains unpredictable despite years of research. Even so, the risk of SIDS can be greatly reduced. Most important: Babies younger than 1 year old should be placed on their backs to sleep — never on their stomachs or on their sides.

Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) is a term used to describe any unexpected and sudden death in a child less than 1 year of age, which often occurs during sleep or in the infant's sleep area. Common types of SUID include sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.

*SUID cases were reported as shown below: Sudden infant death syndrome (41%) Unknown cause (32%)

What is SUDI? The sudden unexpected death of a baby, when there is no apparent cause of death, is called sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI). This includes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and fatal sleep accidents. A baby can die of SUDI at any time of the day or night, but most die quietly in their sleep.

Children's neuropathologist Hannah Kinney, MD, and colleagues have found that babies who die from SIDS have abnormalities in the brainstem, the part of the brain that controls breathing; that responds to re-breathing too much carbon dioxide; and that regulates blood pressure and body temperature — all of which are ...

SIDS is the leading cause of death in babies between 1 month and 1 year old in the United States. About 2,500 infants die every year because of SIDS.

The Truth about SIDS

and several non-preventable ones (infants between one and four months of age, infant gender, or ethnicity). Science is often unable to tell the difference between SIDS and a death that may have been caused by a parent's or caretaker's neglect.

Place babies on their backs to sleep for naps and at night.

Babies who sleep on their backs are at lower risk for SIDS than babies who sleep on their stomachs or sides. If baby usually sleeps on their back, putting them on the stomach or side to sleep, like for a nap, increases the risk for SIDS by up to 45 times.

SIDS makes up about 80% of sudden and unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs). The other 20% of cases are often caused by infections, genetic disorders, and heart problems. While child abuse in the form of intentional suffocation may be misdiagnosed as SIDS, this is believed to make up less than 5% of sudden death cases.

What is the oldest a baby has died from SIDS? ›

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of death among infants between 1 month and 1 year of age. Even though SIDS can occur any time during a baby's first year, most SIDS deaths occur in babies between 1 and 4 months of age.

Many parents are still not following sleep recommendations to prevent SIDS. More than 20 percent of babies in the United States are still not being put on their backs -- the safest position -- to sleep.

Sleep factors

A baby's sleeping position, items in the crib and other conditions may increase the risk of SIDS . Examples include: Sleeping on the stomach or side. Babies placed in these positions to sleep might have more trouble breathing than those placed on their backs.

Place your baby on their back to sleep from the very beginning for both day and night sleeps. This will reduce the risk of cot death. Do not put your baby to sleep on their side or tummy. Once your baby is old enough to roll over, there's no need to worry if they turn onto their tummy or side while sleeping.

Several studies have suggested that SIDS may be more common in families with obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS), but were limited by uncertainty as to whether the deaths were due to SIDS.

SIDS, an unexplained infant death resulting from an unknown medical abnormality or vulnerability is usually classified a natural death. Accidental suffocation, a death resulting from full or partial airway obstruction causing death from oxygen deprivation and increased carbon dioxide, is classified as accidental.

Pathophysiology. A generally accepted model is a triple-risk model: SIDS occurs in infants with underlying vulnerability who undergo a trigger event at a vulnerable developmental stage.[18] Underlying Vulnerability. Infants dying as a result of SIDS display suboptimal physiologic regulatory responses.

When it happens in children under 1 year of age, it's called sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In children 1 year of age or older, it's called sudden unexplained death in children (SUDC). While SIDS cases outnumber SUDC cases by four to one, research funding and published studies for SIDS have dwarfed that for SUDC.