About 4,000 infants die suddenly and unexpectedly each year in the United States.  Most of these deaths result from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes of infant death, such as suffocation.

 

Safe to Sleep Campaign launched in 1994, formerly the Back to Sleep Campaign

Safe to Sleep mission: to educate parents, caregivers, and health care providers about ways to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death.

 

Number of SIDS deaths: 4,669 in 1993 and 2,063 in 2010

 

The proportion of infants placed on their backs to sleep increased from 17% to 74%

 

The US SIDS rate dropped by more than 50% since 1993.

 

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Connecticut Data

Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Syndrome (SUID) was classified as the cause of death for 211 Connecticut infants from 2002 to 2010 as reported by the CT Office of the Child Advocate and the Child Fatality Review Panel in a ten year report on the examination of CT child fatalities.  Of these SUID deaths, 117 were classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) , 77 infant deaths were classified as undetermined and had one or more risk factors associated with an unsafe sleep environment, and 17 were infants that died from suffocation which is typically a child wedged in an adult bed or chair.

To reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death:

• Always place baby on his or her back to sleep for all sleep times, including naps
• Room share—keep baby's sleep area separate, but in the same room where you sleep
• Use a firm sleep surface, free from soft objects, toys, blankets, and crib bumpers

Learn more about ways to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death at www.nichd.nih.gov/sids