Put a fan in your baby’s room. Now!
October 6, 2008 by Laura | Trackback URI
Babies who slept in a room with a fan were 72% less likely to die from SIDS, according to a study released today from Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Conventional wisdom when my daughter was born in 1990 was that babies should sleep on their stomachs. (I believe the rationale was that there was little or no risk of choking that way.) I was very fearful of SIDS - I used to go check on her constantly and just lay my hand on her back to make sure she was still breathing. I almost preferred it when she was colicky - if she was screaming, she was breathing. :-) I breathed a big sigh of relief when she was past the age I needed to worry about it.
Since doctors began advising parents to lay their babies on their backs, SIDS deaths have been cut in half; this may cut the rate even further. It’s nice to see a fix (sans medication) for this devastating problem.
I spent the first year of my life sleeping every night with my mom’s hand on my chest….same for my sister and brother….