Sudden infant death syndrome (also known as SIDS or ‘cot death’) is the sudden and expected death of a baby younger than 12 months of age, which usually happens during sleep, and cannot be explained even after a thorough investigation. SIDS is a tragic event and is the subject of much ongoing research.
While SIDS can happen anytime in the first 12 months of life, the majority of deaths happen in babies aged under 6 months of age, with a peak around 3 to 4 months of age.
You may also hear the term ‘sudden unexpected death in infancy’ or SUDI – this is sometimes used to describe all cases of sudden and unexpected deaths in infancy, not just those due to SIDS. For example, other causes of SUDI may include the death of an infant due to an illness that was not thought to be life-threatening or death from an accident or trauma.
The exact cause of SIDS is unknown.The requirement of a combination of factors including a specific underlying susceptibility, a specific time in development, and an environmental stressor has been proposed.These environmental stressors may include sleeping on the stomach or side, overheating, and exposure to tobacco smoke.
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