Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)—also known as crib death—is one of the top three causes of black infant death. It is the diagnosis given for the sudden death of an infant that remains unexplained after a complete investigation. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, recent research reports have documented that placing babies to sleep on their backs is associated with a reduction in the incidence of SIDS.

Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs) and Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) have been established and published as an air traffic control aid in certain complex terminal areas. They help reduce verbage on clearance delivery and control frequencies to provide the pilot with a description of terminal routing. Instructions for pilot use of these coded routes are contained in the Airman's Information Manual. Certain complex terminal areas are covered by Area Charts.

Doctors don't know what causes SIDS. It seems to happen more often in premature and low-birth-weight babies. It also is seen more often in babies whose mothers did not get medical care during the pregnancy and in babies whose mothers smoke. SIDS may also be more likely in babies who were part of a multiple pregnancy (for example, twins or triplets) or whose mothers are younger than 20. When babies sleep on their bellies, they may not breathe well.

SIDS is named the cause of death only when no other cause is found. To find out why a baby died, medical experts review the baby's and parents' medical histories, study the area where the baby died, and do an autopsy.

SIDS is unexpected, usually occurring in healthy-appearing infants under 1 year of age. A SIDS death occurs quickly and usually during sleep. SIDS is rare during the first month of life. Although SIDS can occur in older infants, most SIDS deaths occur by the end of the sixth month, with the greatest number occurring in infants between 2 and 4 months of age (AAP, 2000). In the United States, more SIDS cases are reported in the fall and winter than in spring or summer.

Each year between 1983 and 1992, the average number of reported SIDS deaths ranged from 5,000 to 6,000. Over the past few years, especially since the mid 1990s, the number of SIDS deaths has declined significantly. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported that in 2001 in the United States, 2,236 infants under 1 year of age died from SIDS (NCHS, 2003).

By definition, a SIDS diagnosis requires a complete autopsy, a thorough death scene investigation, and a clinical history. A death is diagnosed as SIDS only after all probable alternatives have been eliminated-in other words, SIDS is a diagnosis of "exclusion." Often, the cause of an infant death can be determined only through a process of collecting information; conducting sometimes complex forensic tests; and by talking with parents, other caregivers, and physicians.

Currently there is no known way to prevent SIDS, but there are things that parents and caregivers can do to reduce the risk of a SIDS death. For example, researchers now know that the mother's health and behavior during her pregnancy and the baby's health before birth seem to influence the occurrence of SIDS. Scientists also know that certain environmental and behavioral influences (called risk factors) can make an individual more susceptible to disease or ill health.

The most important thing you can do is to always place your baby to sleep on his or her back rather than on the stomach or side. Don't smoke while you are pregnant. Also, do not let anyone smoke around your baby after he or she is born. Don't put anything in the crib that a baby can pull over his or her head, such as blankets, comforters, stuffed toys, or pillows. If you use bumper pads, use ones that are thin and firm, and make sure they are attached tightly to the crib.

Infants are still dying, although in slightly smaller numbers than in the past. The decline in SIDS diagnoses, however, appears to be driven more by politics and prejudice than by medical science. While SIDS has declined, the number of cases in which children are reported to have died from "unknown causes" has doubled. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has ordered that SIDS can only be diagnosed after a complete battery of tests, including a full autopsy.

Place your baby in his or her own bed,on a firm mattress, such as in a safety-approved crib. Use only the mattress or pad provided by the manufacturer. Putting baby to sleep on a soft mattress, sofa, sofa cushion, waterbed, or any other soft surface greatly increases the risk for SIDS. If possible, put your baby's crib in your bedroom. Do not put pillows, soft, fluffy bedding (such as comforters) and stuffed toys in your baby's sleep area.

Changing advice on the sleep position [to recommending that babies be put to sleep on their back] is probably the biggest intervention that's been made in the last ten years. It looks like, depending on the study you read, we've seen somewhere between a 17 and 34 percent reduction in the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome with the "back to sleep" program.

Sometimes a baby who seems healthy dies during sleep. This is called sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS. SIDS is also known as crib death. In most cases, a parent or caregiver places the baby down to sleep and returns later to find the baby has died. It’s no one’s fault. SIDS can happen even when you do everything right. Although SIDS is rare, it is one of the most common causes of death in babies between 1 and 12 months of age.