The On-Going Tragedy of Sudden and Unexpected Infant Death

Each year, Sudden and Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) claims more than 3500 infants in the US, more than 5000 in North America, and more than 80,000 in the world.  SUID causes more infant deaths than any other cause of death between the ages of one month and 12 months.  Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) accounts for about 45% of these deaths.  In all of these cases, healthy, and relatively healthy infants die suddenly and unexpectedly, typically in their sleep in their own beds.  But, it can happen anywhere, in a stroller, in a car seat, and even in the arms of their parent.  In the last 15 years, there has been little decrease in the rate of SUIDs in the US.  

In comparison, less than 200 infants die each year in automobile accidents.  An infant is 20 times more likely to die while asleep in his/her own bed than dying in a car accident. Parents are extremely diligent about placing their infants in approved infant car seats, but parents have few effective options for protecting their babies from this much greater threat.

The "Safe to Sleep" program, introduced in the late 1980's, reduced the number of SIDS and SUID deaths in its first years of implementation, but since 1998, there has been little overall reduction in SUIDs, with the rate of death remaining at about 1 in 1000 infants for the 1st year of life.  The medical establishment continues to learn more about the various causes of these deaths, but other than the "Safe to Sleep" program with all of its safe sleep recommendations, there has been no medically approved solution to prevent these tragic deaths.

The use of cardiorespiratory monitors is not currently recommended by the medical establishment for preventing these deaths, but many parents feel they need the reassurance of some type of monitoring for their babies. The Safe Infant Sleep Foundation intends to conduct an investigation into whether or not monitoring of infants can prevent some or most of these deaths, and if so, determine what type of monitoring is most appropriate.  Other pages on this site list existing infant monitors, provide the established recommendations for safe sleep, and provide links to other useful information, including medical research articles which discuss infant monitoring.