New Years Day SIDS Risk

Yippee, New Years Eve!!! A time to make merry and cheer in the brand new year right?

You may want to think twice about your party plans this year if they include drinking yourself silly. According to this article; "a greater percent of children who die of SIDS do so on New Year's Day."

SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome also known as Crib Death or Cot Death) refers to the "sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant under one year of age, which remains unexplained after all known and possible causes have been ruled out through autopsy, death scene investigation and review of the medical history."

Sadly no one knows why SIDS occurs and therefore how to prevent it. The researchers in the article above, appear to be placing the blame on the parents of the dead children. "One SIDS specialist said parents who have too much to drink may miss the signs of a baby in distress while they're asleep. "If you can't awaken your own self, how will you be sensitive if a baby is vulnerable? Ultimately, she said, caregivers of babies shouldn't drink at all, even if they avoid becoming drunk. "Parents and caregivers need to grow up. If you're going to take care of a child, you have to be responsible."

I can see both sides of this.

On one hand; we don't know what is causing this phenomenon and parents are naturally the first line of defense.

On the other hand; no child can be supervised 100% of the time. We ALL have to look away at some time. Saying that parents and caregivers shouldn't ever drink is more than a little extremist and ignores the majority of parents that know how to imbibe responsibly.

I am not sure that I agree with the reasoning of the specialists, considering that the majority of Sudden Infant Death cases occur while the child is sleeping and are not known to have exhibited any distress. I am an incredibly heavy sleeper and even when our children were sleeping in our room in their bassinet, I certainly wouldn't have been awakened by my child not making any noise. If the child is asleep in their own separate room the chances are even more absurdly unlikely that a parent could intervene. I can't not sleep and the idea of my partner and I taking shifts and never leaving the child alone or unsupervised for even a second is implausible.

I think the blame game is a dangerous one and I can understand that their first impulse may be to associate SIDS and alcohol with the increases on New Years Day, but I don't think that it should be the only potential factor considered, not to mention the insensitivity of further harassing the parents in these tragic cases.

I would love to see SIDS eradicated as much as any one else, but I don't think that firing conclusions from the hip without actual irrefutable evidence is going to help anything.

Have a safe and happy New Years Everyone and remember that sleeping on their back is the safest option for baby.