SIDS risk lowered by fans
Categories: Newborns, Babies, Safety, Medical Conditions, Development
The number one recommendation for avoiding sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS is to have babies sleep on their backs. In addition, get a firm mattress and avoid soft bedding. According to new research coming from doctors at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, there's an additional measure you can take: turn on a fan.This does not replace the existing recommendations, of course, but adds to them. "If parents want to take an extra measure, they should consider using a fan," says Dr. De-Kun Li, the lead researcher in the study. Dr. Li, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist, found that using a fan reduced the incidence of SIDS by 72%. If the temperature in the baby's room was sixty-nine degrees or higher, the fan helped even more -- cutting the risk by 94% versus not using a fan.
It seems to me that putting a fan on is a simple enough thing to do and if it makes that big a difference, I can't see any reason not to. I think we'll be running out for a fan this weekend for sure.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jenni 10-07-2008 @ 6:41PM
Simple! We run our fans pretty much 24/7 anyway. I have to have the air moving around no matter what the temperature.
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Barbara 10-08-2008 @ 6:30PM
Ceiling fans make more sense in a nursery, because unlike plug-in floor or table fans, parents won’t have to worry about safety issues such as tripping over cords or the fan being knocked down by a toddler or pet.
Heather 10-07-2008 @ 7:22PM
Very interesting!
My kids are over the SIDS age, but even when they were we would run a fan. My husband and I also sleep with fans, so I guess it was just the natural thing to do. Even today my kids, ages 6 and 3, have clip on fans they use every night for the "white noise".
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Jan Bay 10-07-2008 @ 8:16PM
Anything we can add to our arsenal in the fight against SIDS is worth doing. I found the temperatures they listed rather interesting. It makes you wonder if there may be some credibility to the opinion that babies should not be kept too warm. Maybe the decrease has as much to do with keeping baby cooler as it does with recirculating the air or decreasing their exposure to carbon dioxide.
Jan from http://www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com/
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lorine 10-08-2008 @ 1:01AM
i've been using fans for 23 years now....kids cant sleep without them..when the electric goes out in bad weather at night....when the fans shut off,everyone wakes up...its really used for the noise because in the winter its blown away from us...when my parents come to visit my father jokes about the fans and says the roof is gonna blow off this house....lol...we all keep the fans on high...for the noise
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jen 10-08-2008 @ 11:01AM
Interesting. This supports the New Zealand studies, that SIDS is caused by the gases emitted from mattresses. A fan blowing would help to keep those heavy gases from settling on top of the mattress right by the baby's face. We opted for the special mattress cover that forces the gases down and away from baby.
More info on the New Zealand studies:
http://www.healthychild.com/cribdeathcause.htm
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Jan Bay 10-09-2008 @ 11:30AM
I always recommend that new moms buy their crib mattress very early so that it can "out gas" as much as possible before baby will be using it. It might be a good idea to this even with organic ones. I'm not going by any studies or scientific facts; just my opinion and if there is scientific backup it wouldn't be the first time that common sense came first.
Jan from http://www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com/
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Ellen from MindBites.com 10-13-2008 @ 8:54AM
I tend to agree that ceiling fans are better for a nursery. I think the sound from the plug in box fans and oscillating fans are addictive. Like the person who commented earlier, I have a friend who is 42 and absolutely can not sleep without an oscillating fan right next to his bed. When he travels, he takes one of those tiny portable fans with him in his luggage. I would be worried that the child would become dependent on the fan to sleep.
http://www.mindbites.com/content/the-baby-formula
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