That's because SIDS cases occur 33 percent more often on New Year's Day than any other day of the year, which is also when more people consume alcohol than at any other time of year, according to researchers at the University of California-San Diego who examined 129,090 SIDS cases from 1973 to 2006.
Though rare, SIDS continues to be the leading cause of death for children aged 1 month to 1 year, and is also known as "crib death" or "cot death" because it strikes seemingly healthy babies in their sleep.
The connection between SIDS and alcohol is concerning: Both SIDS cases and drinking occur more often on weekends than weekdays; and babies whose caretakers drink were also more than twice as likely to die from SIDS compared to those whose caretakers do not drink, say the researchers.
But why the link? The study doesn't point alcohol use as a risk factor for SIDS per se, but there's no denying that an association between the two exists: What worries the researchers is that when parents have been drinking, they are less likely to pay attention to SIDS risk-reduction recommendations, such as putting infants to sleep on their backs, rather than on their side or stomach and not sleeping in the same bed as the infant.
"We know that when people are under the influence of alcohol their judgments are impaired and they are not as good at performing tasks. This would include caretaking," explains lead researcher sociologist David Phillips.
Apart from watching your alcohol intake, you can help reduce the risk by following these guidelines by the American SIDS Institute:
- Place your infant to sleep on her back. Babies who sleep on their stomachs and sides have a much higher risk of SIDS than those who sleep on their backs.
- Place infants to sleep in a baby bed with a firm mattress. There should be no pillows, toys or covers in the crib.
- Keep your baby's crib in the parents' room until he is at least 6 months old.
- Do not place your baby to sleep in an adult bed or fall asleep with your baby in a chair.
- Don't over-clothe the infant while she sleeps and keep the room at a comfortable temperature.
- Avoid exposing the infant to tobacco smoke, which is a SIDS risk factor.
- Avoid exposing infants to people with respiratory infections.
