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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 To assess whether or not increasing the ventilation in a room would affect the risk of SIDS, the researchers compare information from mothers of 185 infants who died of SIDS with 312 randomly selected, age-matched infants. The infants were also matched based on their race or ethnicity and where they lived.
They found that the risk of SIDS was reduced by 72 percent if a baby slept in a room with a fan. Having an open window also seemed to reduce the risk, but this finding wasn't statistically significant.
"If parents, in addition to following the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for SIDS prevention, want to add an extra layer of protection, they could add a fan to the room," said Li, who cautioned that parents need to use common sense when placing a fan so it's not too close to the crib and it's not somewhere a toddler could reach it.
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"Parents still need to be aware that SIDS is a risk. Lay baby on his or her back to sleep. Don't use soft bedding. Give the baby a pacifier, and finally, have a fan in the room. There's really no risk to having a fan, and from this study it seems like it might benefit," Pitetti said.
Unfortunately, not everyone is heeding the SIDS prevention advice. According to the October issue of Pediatrics, about 25 percent of babies aren't sleeping on their backs, and 34 percent are regularly sleeping with their parents.
Another study in the same issue of Pediatrics found that when child-care providers receive specific SIDS training, the risk of SIDS goes down. Among 264 child-care programs that received training, the rate of back sleeping went from 51 percent to 62 percent. The authors of this study concluded that more training is needed for parents and child-care providers and that state mandates would help reduce the risk of SIDS even further.
More information
Read more about SIDS prevention from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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