BREASTFEEDING MAY REDUCE RISK OF SIDS

The documented benefits of breast-feeding are well known by most expectant and new parents. Yet, a new study just released in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, suggests even more good news about breast-fed babies…a reduced chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Perhaps the strongest message was the emphasis on sleeping position, reminding parents that back-sleeping offers the greatest reduction in SIDS that we know of.  Yet, the question of breast-feeding, and in particular how long an infant is exclusively breast-fed was on the mind of researchers.

After controlling for external factors, such as smoking during pregnancy, paternal employment, infant sleeping position and infant age, researchers found some interesting new data. They compared SIDS rates in exclusively breastfed babies. One group was breast-fed for less than 4 weeks, the other for more than 16 weeks. Results suggest that the shorter-term breast-fed babies were 5.1 times more likely to experience SIDS than the longer breast-fed group.

It turns out that mixed feeding during the first week of life did not appear to increase the risk of SIDS. Research concluded by emphasizing that this study suggested that longer breast-fed babies seemed to have additional protection against SIDS. They added that…”the mechanism of the protective effect of breast-feeding is not clear, “ and added an important note that stated…”It is also possible that frequent feeding of the infant, and the resultant closer contact between mother & child, decreases the risk of SIDS.”