The Never-Ending SIDS Story

SIDS is a mystery. SIDS is just an official sounding term for "the baby died and we don't know why."

Here's what we do know:

Babies sleeping on their backs are less likely to die. But we don't know why. There are also a few holes in this theory, as discussed by the SIDS Alliance Of The Carolinas.

A couple weeks ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with new recommendations. The most controversial parts of these recommendations are that babies should be given pacifiers as a routine prevention of SIDS, and that the aren't too keen on co-sleeping. Backlash against these recommendations has been severe, as seen in USA Today, Le Leche League's offical recommendation against the AAP position, and co-sleeping advocates.

I'm still wondering what happened to all the research about the chemicals in baby bedding contributing to this mysterious illness. It made it into the British Medical Journal - which has very strict standards for publication - why can't it make it into mainstream US media? While I don't promote it as the sole cause of SIDS, it makes sense to me that arsenic might possibly be bad for babies. Just maybe.