News Moms Need

Did you know SIDS is the leading cause of death in infants between 1 month and 1 year of age? SIDS stands for sudden infant death syndrome, but can also be called crib death. SIDS is the unexplained death of a baby younger than 1 year old and can happen without warning to a baby who seems healthy.

While we don’t know what causes SIDS, we do know that some things increase the risk of SIDS.

SIDS is more likely in a baby who:

• Sleeps on his tummy or on his side.
• Sleeps on pillows, soft surfaces or soft bedding.
• Wears too many clothes to sleep or sleeps in a room that is too hot. These things can cause your baby to overheat.
• Shares a bed with you. This is called bed-sharing. It’s when you and your baby sleep together in the same bed. Half of all babies who die of SIDS are babies who share a bed, sofa or sofa chair with another person. The American Academy of Pediatrics (also called AAP) recommends that you and your baby sleep in the same room, but not in the same bed, for the first year of your baby’s life or at least for the first 6 months.
• Is swaddled for sleep and rolls over on his tummy. Swaddling is when you snuggly wrap a thin blanket around your baby so that it covers most of his body below the neck. It’s safe to swaddle your baby until he can roll over.  When he can roll over, stop swaddling.
• Has parents who smoke, drink alcohol or use street drugs. 

How can you put your baby to sleep safely?

• Put your baby to sleep on his back every time until he’s 1 year old.
• Your baby should sleep on a flat, firm surface, like a crib mattress covered with a tightly fitted sheet. Use only the mattress made for your baby’s crib.
• Dress your baby in light sleep clothes. Remove any strings or ties from his pajamas and don’t cover his head. A blanket sleeper can help keep your baby warm without covering his head or face.
• Put your baby to bed in his own crib or bassinet. Don’t bed-share.

What products can help lower a baby’s risk?

Giving your baby a pacifier for naps and at bedtime may help prevent SIDS. But if your baby doesn’t take a pacifier, don’t force it.

There are also products on the market such as special mattresses or wedges that are supposed to reduce a baby’s risk of SIDS. The AAP says not to use these products – there is no evidence they help prevent SIDS. For the same reason the AAP also advises against using home cardiorespiratory monitors as a way to reduce SIDS.

In honor of SIDS awareness month, take a minute to learn more about safe sleep for your baby.

If you have a little one using a pacifier, you may want to listen up. Playtex is recalling over 1 million of their pacifier holder clips – these are clips that you attach to a pacifier and then clip on to something, like your baby’s clothes. The pacifier holder clips are being recalled because they crack and a small part can break off, creating a choking hazard to small children.

The pacifier clips were sold in baby and discount stores nationwide as well as online at amazon.com from July 2010 through October 2013.

If you have the recalled pacifier clips, stop using them right away. Visit the Playtext website  for information on how to return the product and get a full refund. You can also call toll-free (888) 220-2075 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST Monday through Friday.

Visit the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission to learn more about the Playtex pacifier clip recall.

The U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is recalling nearly 1 million play yards because the side rail may unlatch accidentally, potentially leading a child to fall. The play yards include:
• Kolcraft
• Carter’s
• Sesame Street
• Jeep
• Contours
• Care Bear
• Eric Carle
The play yards were sold between January 2000 and January 2009. More details are available on the CPSC news release.

The CPSC is also recalling Jaloma Pacifers because the product’s ventilation holes are too small and may pose a choking risk to young children. These pacifiers should be removed right away from children. The products, made by Gromex, Inc., were sold in New York and New Jersey between February 2008 and March 2009. Learn more by visiting the CPSC news release.

For many years there has been concern by some moms that using a pacifier would interfere with optimal breastfeeding.  A recent study by researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine found that using a pacifier is just fine for breastfed infants.  There is no link to any interference with the best possibe breastfeeding experience, as long as breastfeeding is well established (three to four weeks) before a pacifier is introduced.

The researchers reviewed 29 studies from 12 countries that looked at pacifiers and breastfeeding.  There was no difference in the quality of the breastfeeding experience for the infant.  They did find that women whose babies used a pacifier seemed to stop breastfeeding earlier than other women, but it did not appear that the pacifiers were the reason.

An added benefit to pacifiers:   Over the past few years researchers have found evidence that babies who use pacifiers when they sleep may be less susceptible to sudden infant death syndrome, SIDS. Because of this finding, the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that pacifiers be used when babies are put down to sleep.  Regardless of the protection against SIDS, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommend weaning children from pacifiers in the second six months of life to help prevent otitis media, an inflammation of the middle ear.

So you’re pregnant and want to breastfeed your baby. Great choice! Breastmilk is the best food for most babies during the first year of life.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies exclusively breastfeed for about the first 6 months of life. That means the baby has only breastmilk and no other form of food. In other words: No formula.

A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health looked at whether hospitals support women who want to exclusively breastfeed their babies.

Researchers found that most hospitals encourage women to breastfeed and support those who choose to do so. But hospitals are less helpful when it comes to exclusive breastfeeding.

For instance, many of them give formula to moms who want to exclusively breastfeed. They may also give newborns pacifiers, which can interfere with exclusive breastfeeding. So it can be confusing to the new mom who’s trying to learn how to do this.

So if you want to exclusively breastfeed, you will need to say “No, thanks” to hospital staff when they provide formula and pacifiers.

The March of Dimes article on breastfeeding lists resources that can help you prepare before your due date arrives.

I’m not here to debate the benefits of pacifiers.  Pacifiers can serve many purposes.  In the early months, they satisfy an innate urge to suck. This can be particularly beneficial for premature babies and colicky infants and they may lower the risk SIDS. They can be of great comfort at difficult times. But some studies imply that the use of pacifiers by breastfeeding infants may reduce the length of time they breastfeed.  And some research indicates that long-term use of a pacifier (4-5 years) can lead to a change in the structure of the mouth and positioning of the teeth.  Read what’s out there and make your own decision.  If you are a parent who has chosen to use a pacifier, however, there will come a time for your baby to give it up.  This can be easy and it can be really hard.

It’s a pretty sure bet your child won’t go off to college with his binky.  Most children will stop using it between the age of one and three, as long as the parents do not encourage its use.  (Parents who constantly use a pacifier to keep their child quiet may find it harder to eliminate its use later on.) Many parents begin withdrawal by limiting the use of the pacifier to the home, then his room, then just at naptime and bedtime.  Be sure to offer other sources of comfort like hugs and kisses, cuddling, listening to soft music, sharing favorite stories.  Be sure your child uses his mouth for all sorts of activities like singing, sucking water through a straw, laughing, telling stories, making goofy faces with you.

Praise all “big boy” behavior, but don’t put him down when the baby behavior pops up. Putting on his own socks, potty training, graduating to a “big boy bed,” climbing on the playground equipment all deserve praise and reinforcement.  My daughter reinforced the “big girl” behavior enough that, after months of gradual withdrawal, her daughter decided she should mail the binky to the hospital for the babies.  Together they put her pacifiers in a box, took them to the post office and mailed them to the babies (a local friend who tossed them out).  Got any suggestions you’d like to share?