Fan in Baby's Room May Lower SIDS Risk
Fan in Baby's Room May Lower SIDS Risk
Study Shows Bedroom Fans May Help Cut Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Oct. 6, 2008 -- Young infants who sleep in bedrooms with fans have a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome than babies who sleep in less well-ventilated rooms, new research shows.
Investigators concluded that sleeping with a fan lowers SIDS risk by more than 70%.
Sleeping in a room with an open window was also found to lower risk, although the association was not significant.
The intriguing findings must be confirmed, and researchers say fan use is no substitute for interventions known to lower SIDS risk, such as placing babies to sleep on their backs, avoiding soft bedding in cribs, and putting babies to sleep with pacifiers.
SIDS deaths have dropped by more than half in the U.S. since 1992, when parents were first told to put babies to sleep on their backs.
"This is one more thing that parents can do for peace of mind," De-Kun Li, MD, PhD, tells WebMD.
It is now clear that sleep environment plays a big role in SIDS, Li says, but the reasons for this are not completely understood.
SIDS deaths are most likely to occur when babies are between the ages of 2 months and 4 months, and deaths tend to peak in winter months. It is the leading cause of death in babies 1 month to 1 year old.
One theory is that SIDS is caused by the buildup of carbon dioxide when infants with inadequate sleep arousal responses re-breathe exhaled air trapped by bedding or proximity to other sleeping family members.
With this idea in mind, Li and colleagues from the research division of the California-based managed health care group Kaiser Permanente hypothesized that increasing airflow near a sleeping baby would help protect against sudden infant death syndrome.
To test the theory, they interviewed the mothers of 185 babies who died of SIDS in Northern California and Los Angeles County from 1997 to 2000. The average length of time between the SIDS death and the interview was 3.8 months.
The mothers of 312 children matched for age, area of residence, and socioeconomic and ethnic background to the SIDS victims were also interviewed.
Fan in Baby's Room May Lower SIDS Risk
Study Shows Bedroom Fans May Help Cut Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Oct. 6, 2008 -- Young infants who sleep in bedrooms with fans have a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome than babies who sleep in less well-ventilated rooms, new research shows.
Investigators concluded that sleeping with a fan lowers SIDS risk by more than 70%.
Sleeping in a room with an open window was also found to lower risk, although the association was not significant.
The intriguing findings must be confirmed, and researchers say fan use is no substitute for interventions known to lower SIDS risk, such as placing babies to sleep on their backs, avoiding soft bedding in cribs, and putting babies to sleep with pacifiers.
SIDS deaths have dropped by more than half in the U.S. since 1992, when parents were first told to put babies to sleep on their backs.
"This is one more thing that parents can do for peace of mind," De-Kun Li, MD, PhD, tells WebMD.
Sleeping and SIDS
It is now clear that sleep environment plays a big role in SIDS, Li says, but the reasons for this are not completely understood.
SIDS deaths are most likely to occur when babies are between the ages of 2 months and 4 months, and deaths tend to peak in winter months. It is the leading cause of death in babies 1 month to 1 year old.
One theory is that SIDS is caused by the buildup of carbon dioxide when infants with inadequate sleep arousal responses re-breathe exhaled air trapped by bedding or proximity to other sleeping family members.
With this idea in mind, Li and colleagues from the research division of the California-based managed health care group Kaiser Permanente hypothesized that increasing airflow near a sleeping baby would help protect against sudden infant death syndrome.
To test the theory, they interviewed the mothers of 185 babies who died of SIDS in Northern California and Los Angeles County from 1997 to 2000. The average length of time between the SIDS death and the interview was 3.8 months.
The mothers of 312 children matched for age, area of residence, and socioeconomic and ethnic background to the SIDS victims were also interviewed.
