Rockin Mama™

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October is SIDS Awareness Month

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October is SIDS, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. SIDS just downright scares me. I have done everything I can to minimize his risk by, placing him on his back to sleep, breastfeeding, placing him in the co-sleeper on a firm mattress with a sheet, no blanket, yet a definitive cause of SIDS is still left unknown. I read an article in one of my nursing journals a while back that showed a causal relationship between hearing test results and risk of SIDS. To sum up the article, infants who test lower on their right ear when compared with their left ear are at an increased risk due to a potential dysfunction in the regulatory controls of autonomic nervous system functions like blood pressure. I also recently read some information out of New Zealand that attributes SIDS to “gases generated by fungal activity on compounds of phosphorus, arsenic and/or antimony present in many baby mattresses and and other items of baby crib bedding commonly used in a baby’s nursery.” I had never heard of bedding actually causing SIDS but I did end up buying the Babesafe Mattress Cover they recommend (probably again for my own peace of mind). Once Jason puts it on I’ll wait a bit and then write what I think about it on another post. I also bought the Bebe Sounds Angel Care monitor and while it isn’t an apnea monitor like we use in the NICU, it does give me some peace of mind as well and it will alarm if there is no movement (breathing) for 20 seconds. At some point I have to trust that God is taking care of Josh and that He is in control. With that, I’m about to turn Josh over onto his back for what seems like the 10th time! He loves sleeping on his stomach but I can’t sleep at night when he does that so I’m trying to get him to sleep on his back.

Links:
http://firstcandle.org/bedtimebasics/index.html
http://www.sids.org/

Caryn Bailey
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