NIH Radio
NIH alerts caregivers to increase in SIDS risk during cold weather
Brief Description:
An advisory on how to reduce the risk of SIDS during the winter months.
Transcript:
Akinso: Parents and caregivers can take steps to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, known as SIDS, during cold weather.
Willinger: The most important thing during any month is to place the baby to sleep on their back for every sleep time.
Akinso: Dr. Marian Willinger is a special assistant for SIDS research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Willinger: During the colder months when parents are more likely to put more clothing on the baby or heavy blankets. They should not put too many blankets or clothing on the baby, you know, to keep the baby warm.
Akinso: Dr. Willinger provides some advice for parents and caregivers who may overdress their babies or use extra blankets.
Willinger: What they should be doing is trying to avoid the use of blankets, to use a blanket sleeper so that you don’t run the chance of the baby getting their face or head covered by the bedding. They should not let the baby get too hot. And if you're outside with the baby and you have heavy outerwear on the baby, when you come inside you need to remove the outerwear even if the baby is asleep. The important thing is that you do not want the baby to overheat. If the baby overheats it increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
Akinso: For more than a decade, the NICHD and its partners, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the First Candle, and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality have led the Back to Sleep campaign. For more information, visit www.nichd.nih.gov. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
About This Audio Report
Date: 11/16/2010
Reporter: Wally Akinso
Sound Bite: Dr. Marian Willinger
Topic: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, SIDS
Institute(s):
NICHD
Additional Info: NIH alerts caregivers to increase in SIDS risk during cold weather
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