Nearly One Infant Dies Weekly Due to SUID in Cook County – We Must Improve Now!

Each year, approximately 3,500 infants under one die suddenly and unexpectedly in the U.S and almost all occur in their sleep environment. The past two decades saw little progress in preventing these deaths, but in 2019, Cook County added SUID (sudden unexpected infant death) to a national surveillance system to shed light on the circumstances of these deaths and provide information that could aid in prevention. Researchers at Rush University recently released a report on SUID Case Registry for Cook County to effectively promote safe infant sleep practices and prevent SUID.

The report found that from 2020-2021, 99 infants died suddenly and unexpectedly in Cook County, Illinois. Of these, 96 were sleep-related. The report also found that 99 percent of the sleep-related deaths involved an unsafe sleep situation. These included 87 children (91%) who died with soft bedding or items in their sleeping environment and 71 children (74%) who died while sleeping on an adult bed or couch with another person.

The report also found a large racial disparity. SUID occurred 14 times more often in Black infants, and 2.5 times more often in Hispanic infants when compared with white infants.

While there is still much that doctors do not understand about SUID, over the past two decades pediatricians and safe sleep advocates have developed more understanding of hazards in an infant’s sleep environment.

We should all work together to make sure every baby has a safe sleep environment. Together we can help parents and caregivers follow the ABCs of safe sleep at every sleep time:

• Baby is Alone, without products such as crib bumper pads, pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, or toys, and has their own separate sleep space.
• Baby is placed to sleep on their Back, and
• Baby sleeps on a firm flat surface in a Crib, play yard or bassinet that meets the federal safety standard.

Learn more safe sleep practices from the AAP and KID’s Safe Sleep PSA with Spanish subtitles, and please share the video with your networks social media. Also check out KID’s new flyer on which unsafe sleep products to avoid. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok to learn more.