SIDS in the The News

How to Care for our Angels:
Normal, Healthy Babies Don't Need Monitors

Letter to the Editor of the Montreal Gazette newspaper in response to an article reporting on the Angelcare monitor being the first Canadian product to win a prize at the International Inventions conference held annually in Geneva, Switzerland.

How to Care for our Angels: Normal, Healthy Babies Don't Need Monitors

In the past several years, remarkable progress has been made in lowering the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). National campaigns in Canada and many other countries have advised parents to place infants on their backs to sleep. Studies have found that infants placed on their stomachs to sleep often turn into the face-down position. Sometimes they are unable to turn their heads and asphyxiate. Sleeping prone on a pillow, comforter, adult bed, couch, or other soft surface magnifies the risk of head entrapment.

A recent article in the Montreal Gazette lauded the introduction of a new motion and sound monitor for infants, Angelcare. The product is attractively packaged and has won marketing awards. Unfortunately, it is likely to do more harm than good. There is absolutely no evidence that infant monitors can lower the incidence of SIDS. Furthermore, responsible physicians do not recommend monitoring normal, healthy infants. Because all monitors have false alarms, it seems likely that many parents will be concerned that their infants have stopped breathing when their monitors alarm. Such concern may bring the baby to hospital for costly, unnecessary investigations.

The Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, Health Canada, The Canadian Institute of Child Health, and the Canadian Pediatric Society have proposed a more sensible approach, one already shown to be effective in reducing the risk of SIDS. In their joint statement: Back to Sleep, Reducing the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Canada, there are five recommendations:

1. For sleep we recommend that normal, healthy babies be placed on their back.
2. We recommend that all infants be cared for in a smoke- and drug-free environment.
3. We recommend that infants be dressed and covered in a manner to avoid overheating, even during an illness.
4. We recommend that all women be encouraged and helped to breastfeed their babies, where that is possible.
5. We recommend that firm, flat bedding be used for normal, healthy infants with sheets and light blankets as needed, but without products to maintain the sleeping position.

In Quebec, we have one of the lowest rates of SIDS in the world, about three deaths per 10,000 infants born. Analysis of recent deaths suggests the rate could be even much lower if all infants were consistently cared for using the joint statement recommendations.

Let's put our efforts into a proven risk reduction strategy - the Back to Sleep campaign - not an untested monitor, no matter how attractively packaged.

Robert Brouillette, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics, McGill University
Director, Jeremy Rill Centre for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Control of Breathing Disorders