Fans may reduce the risk of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, a study shows.
Babies who slept in a room with a fan were 72% less likely to die from SIDS, according to a study released today from Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
The study included interviews with the mothers of 185 infants who died from SIDS and the mothers of 312 other babies. Fans offered even more protection in warm rooms where temperatures were over 69 degrees.
It's possible that fans, by improving circulation, prevent infants from rebreathing exhaled carbon dioxide. That gas can pool up in the gap between a baby's face and the mattress and deprive him of oxygen, says author De-Kun Li, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist with Kaiser Permanente's research division.
Because infants' neck muscles are weak, they may not be able to turn their heads to find fresh air, Li says.
That's why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies sleep on their backs.
Deaths from SIDS have fallen by half since 1992, to a rate of about 0.5 deaths for every 1,000 live births.
Pacifiers also seem to offer protection, perhaps because the handle prevents a baby's face from becoming pressed against the mattress.
Marian Willinger of the National Institutes of Health says the study, while intriguing, needs to be followed up by additional research. Putting babies to sleep on their backs is still the most important thing parents or caregivers can do to prevent SIDS, she says.
A study published Monday in Pediatrics, however, shows that 26% of mothers of 3-month-olds don't follow that advice. One-third of mothers shared a bed with their 3-month-old, another practice that may increase the risk of SIDS. Parents who are young, have low incomes or have low education are less likely to follow safe sleeping guidelines, the study says.
Day care providers also often fail to put infants on their backs, according to a second study in Pediatrics. About 20% of SIDS deaths occur when someone other than a parent is in charge.
In a study of 1,993 infants, 51% of babies were put to sleep on their backs at the beginning of the study, in which researchers measured the effect of educating child care providers about SIDS. The program provided modest improvement. The study found 62% of babies were put on their backs at child care centers that received the training, compared with 57% of babies at centers that didn't receive the training.
Child care providers are more likely to put babies on their backs if day care centers have a written policy about safe sleeping, the study says. About half of states require child care centers to put babies on their backs to sleep.
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