Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) also know as cot death is a tragic phenomenon and is the most common cause of death in a 1 - 12 month old.

The correct definition of SIDS is "the sudden death of an infant under one year of age, which remains unexplained after a complete postmortem examination, including an investigation of the death scene and a review of the case history". Tragically for the parents of these victims there is no clear cause of death which only adds to the on going grief.

I think that SIDS has to be number one on the long list of parental concerns that we as parents have. It is a phenomenon that to-date has not definite conclusions to the cause but there are certain factors that increase or decrease the risk of this event which happens when babies are sleeping. There is however a correlation between sleep positions and sleep environment.

Although cot death is the most common cause of death in babies 1 - 12 months of age, the peak risk is between 2 - 4 months of age with a dramatic decline post 6 months. 9/10 happen within the first 6 months of a babies life.

As a babies motor development kicks in a lot of parents become anxious as they know how no control on their babies movements during the night and between 4 - 5 months the rolling from back to side to front begins. Once this development starts the babies strength is greater and the chances of SIDS greatly decreases.

Increased risk

• Baby being to hot - an ideal sleeping environment is 19 degrees.
• Cigarette smoke in a babies environment or smoking during pregnany
  
• Sleeping face down
• Late or non existent prenatal care
• Premature or low birth weight
• Ethnic group
  
• Boys are more at risk than girls
• The seasons of Fall and Winter'
• Inappropriate sleep surface - mattress or other surface is too soft for the baby
  
• Loose bedding that can smoother a babies face
  

Decreased risk

• Back to sleep (put your baby to sleep on their back)
• Feet to foot position (please see diagram) babies are places at the foot of the crib so that they can not wriggle under loose bedding.
• Using a Sleep sacs
  

Myths

• SIDS is not contagious
• It is not caused by any other illness

The Canadian Pediatric Society made the same recommendation as the APP in the UK to Canadian parents in 2004. The policy statement 'Recommendations for Safe Sleeping Environments for Infants and Children'.

The recommendation goes as follows - Parent should put baby to bed in a crib, bassinet or cradle that meets the safety standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

When these guidelines were issues it was noted that some parents would still rather take their babies to bed with them - they stated the following "The recommended practice of independent sleeping will likely continue to be the preferred sleeping arrangement for infants in Canada, but a significant proportion of families will still elect to sleep together'.

Here is a direct link to the Canadian Governments 'Cribs and Cradles Regulations'.
http://gazetteducanada.gc.ca/partI/2004/20040501/html/regle2-e.html

I thought I would write up on this topic as it is probably one of the most common and frustrating issues for parents to deal with and is widely practiced by our littles ones.

Whats considered early?

I consider early morning waking to be waking before 6am or waking before having 10.5 - 11 hours of night time sleep.

There are two main groups for this issues -

1) Children who wake up before they have had enough sleep - see most common reasons below.

Don't expect a child to go to bed at 7pm and sleep until 9am just because thats what time you used to get up at before they were born or because you stayed up late last night having a glass of wine and watching a movie. Most parents can kiss goodbye to lazy Sunday mornings in bed with a starbucks and paper (unless you trade off with your spouse at the weekend) - as children who go to bed at a reasonable hour are often rearing to go at 6am - after all - they have just slept for 11 hours and cant wait to see what the world has in store for them today.

Here is a list of contributing factors that can cause a child to wake up BEFORE they are ready.

Children who have not had enough sleep often wake up crying / grumpy and are ready to go back to sleep again within an hour or so of being up.

• ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
  

NOISE - If you live in a noisy neighborhood / on a busy street or in an old house. There are lots of noises that can bring your sleeping baby to an awake state. For mask external noises I would recommend that you invest in a white noise machine, spa therapy machine as they are sometimes called.

LIGHT - During the spring and summer months light starts to creep into the bedroom earlier an earlier which can also assist in waking up your child. Through these seasons hang something thick up over the windows to help keep the room the same throughout the night. If you wanted something more permanent then you can invest in black out blinds.

• DIAPER

Some children wake up early because they have had a bowel movement. I often find that by giving a child too much fruit after dinner or foods later in the day that are high in fiber can cause a bowel movement early in the morning. Try tracking your babies diet and offering those high fiber or fruits in the early morning instead to see if makes a difference.

• BEHAVIORAL OR HABITUAL

If you child has a sleep association or wakes up several times a night then I would also expect them to rouse around 5am - if this is the case then you would need to look at the overall situation and possibly execute some sleep training.

• SLEEP DEPRIVED

Children who are not getting enough sleep overall will also wake up early. In these cases you are aiming for 10.5 - 12 hours to be within the normal range. Children who are not getting quality nighttime sleep or poor naps are more prone to early rising. If this is the case then try moving you child's bedtime earlier - don't worry children rarely change their wake up time to earlier just because they went to bed earlier. Try it - you have nothing t loose and give it at least 3 days in order to see the effects.

2) Children who wake up early who have had enough sleep - this is there natural wake up time.

• LITTLE LARK

You may have a little lark on your hands - whos natural waking hour happens to be before yours or the rest of the houses. But Just because your baby or child is awake does not mean that they have to get every body else up nor does it mean that you have to get up. You control the time that they get up out of bed to start their day - you can not control the time that they wake up. My daughter is often up before 7.30am (when her clock goes off) but she sits on her bed and babbles until I come in.

• TOO LONG IN BED

If you are expecting them to be in their bed for too long then this can also appear to be early rising. 11 hours is reasonable and if they are awake then it is fine to get them up after 6am or later. This would be for a child who has bedtime of 7pm. If you are putting your baby to bed at 6pm and they are rearing to go at 5am - then you may want to see if you can shift their bedtime around in 15 minute increments.

• YOU CHECKING IN

I advise against checking in on your child at 5am or later - lots of children have had 90% of their night time sleep by then and have a lot more energy to fight off sleep and your presence will only stimulate them more so the chances of them falling back to sleep will decrease. Hold off until 6am at least when you can get them up for a nurse / feed and into daylight. Its okay for them to hang out in their crib for an hour - if you get them up because they want to get up then you are reinforcing that it is morning time after all.

I always have my children in bed at the same time everyday and my daughter goes down for a nap at the same time everyday. But it sometimes does take her longer to fall asleep - they are just like use - I might put her down at 7pm but at 7.30pm I can still hear her babbling away - I leave her and the same thing in the morning - sometimes I hear them chatting away at 6.30am to each other - but they don't come out of the room until I go in at 7.30am. I cant control them falling alseep or waking up - I can only control the time they go to bed and the time to get up.