Changing concepts of sudden infant death syndrome: Implications for infantsleeping environment and sleep position

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended since 1992 that infants be placed to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Since that time, the frequency of prone sleeping has decr eased from >70% to similar to 20% of US infants, and the SIDS rate has decr eased by >40%. However, SIDS remains the highest cause of infant death beyo nd the neonatal period, and there are still several potentially modifiable risk factors. Although some of these factors have been known for many years (eg, maternal smoking), the importance of other hazards, such as soft bedd ing and covered airways, has been demonstrated only recently. The present s tatement is intended to review the evidence about prone sleeping and other risk factors and to make recommendations about strategies that may be effec tive for further reducing the risk of SIDS. This statement is intended to c onsolidate and supplant previous statements made by this Task Force.