Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Sep 8;21(Suppl 1):320.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-021-02536-z.

Sudden infant death syndrome prevention

Sophie Jullien  1
Affiliations
Review

Sudden infant death syndrome prevention

Sophie Jullien. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

We looked at existing recommendations and supporting evidence for successful strategies to prevent the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).We conducted a literature search up to the 14th of December 2020 by using key terms and manual search in selected sources. We summarized the recommendations and the strength of the recommendation when and as reported by the authors. We summarized the main findings of systematic reviews with the certainty of the evidence as reported.Current evidence supports statistical associations between risk factors and SIDS, but there is globally limited evidence by controlled studies assessing the effect of the social promotion strategies to prevent SIDS through knowledge, attitude and practices, due to obvious ethical reasons. A dramatic decline in SIDS incidence has been observed in many countries after the introduction of "Back to Sleep" campaigns for prevention of SIDS. All infants should be placed to sleep in a safe environment including supine position, a firm surface, no soft objects and loose bedding, no head covering, no overheating, and room-sharing without bed-sharing. Breastfeeding on demand and the use of pacifier during sleep time protect against SIDS and should be recommended. Parents should be advised against the use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs during gestation and after birth.

Keywords: Infant; Prevention; Sleeping practices; Sudden infant death syndrome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

SJ had a contract and was paid as an independent consultant by the WHO via Witten/ Herdecke University, ECPCP and EPA/UNEPSA for developing the different articles of this supplement.

References

    1. Willinger M, James LS, Catz C. Defining the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): deliberations of an expert panel convened by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Pediatr Pathol. 1991;11(5):677–684. doi: 10.3109/15513819109065465. - DOI - PubMed
    1. AAP Task Force on Sudden Indant Death Syndrome. SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths: Updated 2016 recommendations for a safe infant sleeping environment. Pediatrics. 138(5):e20162938. - PubMed
    1. de Visme S, Chalumeau M, Levieux K, Patural H, Harrewijn I, Briand-Huchet E, et al. National variations in recent trends of sudden unexpected infant death rate in Western Europe. J Pediatr. 2020;226:179–185.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.06.052. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sánchez Ruiz-Cabello J. Prevención del síndrome de la muerte súbita del lactante [Internet]. Recomendaciones PrevInfad/PAPPS. 2016 [cited 2019 Jul 25]. p. 1–14. Available from: http://previnfad.aepap.org/monografia/muerte-subita-lactante
    1. National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion. Promoting Health for Infants [Internet]. CDC. 2020 [cited 2020 Dec 14]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/inf...

Publication types