20 Years of Protecting Infants During Sleep

Many years ago, my wife’s youngest brother died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). That tragedy deeply affected her family and her personally. It is part of the reason she became a grief counselor, to help others struggling with loss.

A couple of years ago when our grandson was born, I was grateful that the national Safe to Sleep® (formerly Back to Sleep) campaign, with its key message of placing babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS, had become common practice. Even though there is no known way to completely prevent SIDS, the campaign messages were reassuring—there were things we could do to help protect our grandson.

Knowledge about SIDS has come a long way in the past 20 years. We’ve discovered many ways to reduce the risk of SIDS—primary among them placing babies to sleep on their backs.

Read the rest of the update in my Huffington Post Parents Blog: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/20-years-of-protecting-in_b_6062778.

Originally posted: November 10, 2014