I am completely scared out of mind when it comes to my daughter; she's 5 months old. I always check on her in her crib to make sure she's okay, even if I have a baby monitor. I even wake up sometimes in the middle of the night because I feel like I need to check and see if she's okay. Is anyone else like this? Many new moms worry about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS has no clear cause and can strike otherwise healthy babies without warning. Find out what other moms do to help protect their babies from SIDS and give themselves peace of mind. Follow Safe Sleep Guidelines My baby's doctor told me not to co-sleep, always put baby on their back and no stuffed animals or heavy blankets. My daughter is five months and almost out of the woods since 90% of SIDS cases occur in the first 6 months of life and especially when the baby is two to four months old. Making sure you breastfeed, keeping their vaccinations up to date, and giving them a pacifier before bed are all ways to reduce the risk.

Do you co-sleep or use a bassinet? Dr. Sears is actually advocating co-sleeping to reduce SIDS risk, if you want to look into that. An air purifier or fan in room for well circulated air, and statistically babies that sleep with a pacifier have a lower incidence of SIDS death. The other main contributor to SIDS is smoking, so if you don't smoke in the home, your risk is substantially lower. They say don't put bumpers, pillows, blankets, and sleep toys or stuffed animals in with baby at bedtime. I would put my daughter in creepers, socks, and a sleep gown. The gown had covers so you can cover the hands. I also would put a hat on her. Keep Baby Close at Night I had my daughter sleep in my room for the first nine and a half months, in a Pack N Play next to my bedside. It made me feel better to know she was right there. After she moved to her room I bought a video monitor, and it picks up noise so well that if I turn it up all the way I can literally hear her breathing.

It's proven that room sharing reduces the risk of SIDS by a huge percentage. It's also good for peace of mind.Their body is not mature enough to self-regulate all the time. But they breathe with you and your heart regulates theirs. If you do not feel comfortable co-sleeping, have your baby sleep next to your bed and within a few feet. Offer Baby a Pacifier at Bedtime All the information they gave us when our first daughter was born in 2009 said pacifiers helped reduce the chances of SIDS, so we will use one for all our kids. Babies are supposed to sleep with their mothers and breastfeed through the night. In the absence of that a pacifier might work to reduce SIDS. Use a Fan to Circulate Air Running a fan while baby sleeps is supposed to reduce the risk of SIDS. Fans are fine in hot weather. It's actually better for a baby to be a little chilly than overheated. Try Not to Stress About SIDS I still worry about my nine-month-old, especially because she has always preferred sleeping on her stomach.

I used to check on her every 20 minutes. Now I force myself to do something during her naps so I don't go crazy. I am a mom that lost her son to SIDS. No one knows what causes SIDS but recent studies say there is something that fails in the brain stem. There is no test for it but your best bet is putting baby on his back to sleep. coway air purifier dubaiMost of all remember to enjoy and love your baby.aaa wicks plumbing heating air duct cleaning All you can really do is follow the safety guidelines for preventing SIDS and reassure yourself that it is really pretty rare. crc mass air flow sensor cleaner autozoneIf you are still feeling overwhelming anxiety over it, talk to your doctor about managing your anxiety.

My doctor had a lot of suggestions that did help a lot. I don't believe there is anything you can do to truly prevent it. I obsessed for a few weeks too, then I realized that I was missing out on spending time with her, so I relaxed. Baby's Health & Wellness Join our Babies Group! Our moms are talking and giving advice 24/7. Sign Up Using Email © 2016 CMI Marketing, Inc. 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. Sleeping in a room with an open window was found to reduce the risk of SIDS by 36%, while sleeping with a fan in the room was associated with a 72% reduction in risk. The risk reduction with fan use was even greater in babies who were put to bed on their stomachs or had other sleep-related SIDS risk factors. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study appears in the October issue of Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine. Back Sleeping Still Important Pediatrician and SIDS researcher Fern Hauck, MD, tells WebMD that the observation that better ventilation may lower the risk of sudden infant death is an important one.

Hauck directs the Internal Family Medicine Clinic of the University of Virginia Health System. "We have no way of knowing which children will die of SIDS, so anything we can tell parents that might lower risk is important," she says. She called the findings "exciting," but also expressed concern that some parents might get the message that all they need to do to keep their baby safe is put a fan in the baby's bedroom. Hauck led the American Academy of Pediatrics task force that wrote the group's most recent recommendations for lowering SIDS risk. In addition to putting babies to sleep on their backs, the task force recommended that babies be offered a pacifier at night or at nap time if they will take one. Although babies can be brought into their parents' bed for nursing or comforting, they should not share the bed when parents are sleeping. Infants should be put to sleep on a firm mattress covered by nothing more than a sheet. Keep soft objects and loose bedding out of the crib: stuffed toys, pillows, and quilts should be removed from the bed when the baby is sleeping.