Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths, also known as SUIDs, increased in Arizona by 5 percent from 2016 to 2017.
Nearly all of the deaths were ruled as preventable and 60 percent were sharing a bed with either a parent or another child. Tomi St. Mars of the Office of Injury Prevention at the Arizona Department of Health Services, explains how to avoid SUID.
“So we have a checklist on our website that encourages parents to share their room, but not their bed. To not smoke near their baby — and that is a recommendation for the American Academy of Pediatrics — to keep bedding away from the baby’s face,” St. Mars said.
She also advises caregivers not overdress the baby so they don’t overheat and to have a tight fitting mattress so the baby can’t accidentally become wedged between rails of the crib.
