A growing number of babies are dying due to sleep-related deaths across the nation. To bring attention to one of the main causes of these deaths, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), October is National SIDS Awareness month.
SIDS is one cause of Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths (SUIDs), when a baby dies in his or her sleep. While there is no known cause of SIDS, there are ways to help prevent these deaths and other SUIDs, including putting baby to sleep on his or her back, alone and in a crib.
Sleep-related deaths had been declining after several years of a nationwide education campaign, Back to Sleep, but are on the rise again. SUIDs, which include SIDS, accounted for 18.4 percent of infant deaths in 2013, compared to 16.3 percent statewide.
Twenty-six babies died in Northeast Florida in 2013 from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which accounted for 65 percent of the the deaths, and suffocation and strangulation both in the bed and in other locations.
Safe Sleep Resources: