Covering of head increases SIDS risk

Preventing bed clothes from covering the face or head of a sleeping infant may decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Among the postulated mechanisms of SIDS are lack of oxygen, hyperventilation and thermal stress with uncertain significance of head covering. Researchers from United Kingdom did a systematic review of findings from previous 10 studies that assessed the prevalence and magnitude of the risk involved in covering of the head. The review included 1,234 infants who died from SIDS and another 3,822 infants of a similar age who did not die during sleep, acting as controls. They assessed the frequency of head covering among the entire study participants. The findings revealed that about 25 percent of SIDS victims had bedclothes covering their head or face, in contrast to about 3 percent of infants who acted as controls. Even though the findings did not indicate that head covering causes SIDS, the researchers felt that preventing bed clothes from covering an infant's head and face during sleep is a major modifiable risk factor. The study suggested that parents should avoid covering the head of babies as a part of good infant care practice.

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