SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME
Symptoms: None
Home care: Parents should observe general guidelines for baby care as set by maternal and child care nurses or pediatricians.
Precautions: Unfortunately there are no known ways to prevent SIDS. It is totally unpredictable.
Apparent life threatening event
Apparent Life Threatening Event (ALTE) is defined as cessation of breathing for 20 seconds or more, and where a baby may go pale or blue around the lips, floppy or stiff in the body or is difficult to wake up. In the past, the term ”near miss SIDS” was sometimes used to describe this problem. Now the term ALTE is used because reliable evidence suggests that these episodes are more .likely to be linked to infection. Convulsion, obstruction of the breathing passage or an unknown cause, rather than to SIDS.
It is not uncommon for babies to breathe rapidly for several seconds, stop completely for ten seconds, and then start again. This is called periodic breathing and is quite normal. If you think your baby has had an ALTE, attempt respiratory resuscitation and then immediately go to a doctor ñ hospital. There are pediatricians specializing in this area who may want to test the baby’s sleep, breathing and feeding patterns.
It seems unlikely that many infants could be saved from SIDS by parents being able to carry out resuscitation. It is however important that all adults understand the techniques of resuscitation as it would be necessary with an ALTE. Resuscitation is not difficult to learn, particularly respiratory resuscitation (which is most important for infants and children). Several places, as St Johns and Red Cross, run classes.
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