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Does Organic Crib Bedding Really Prevent SIDS?
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) defines the baffling deaths of otherwise healthy infants. Years of study by researchers have yielded no causes and the syndrome remains a frustrating mystery that claims the lives of more than 7,000 babies every year, and transcends ethnic, racial, and gender groups.
There are so many theories about what causes SIDS, including infection or stress related factors; birth defects; or failure to develop properly. Other theories suggest the period between birth and 3 months is a critical time of rapid growth, during which a child is extremely vulnerable. Scientists are also studying development of infant nervous systems, heart, breathing, sleep patterns, chemical balances, and environmental factors. There is a large group that firmly believes pesticides and chemicals in crib bedding are to blame.
Certain risk factors (not causes) may play a role in some cases; but the debate rages on about how to reduce the risk of SIDS. Some insist chemicals in textiles are off gassing into babies' lungs and irritating skin. Some say other factors are at play.
With your own newborn child, ALWAYS err on the side of safety. Provide organic crib bedding that is free of chemicals, pesticide residues, unnatural toxins, and artificial breeding environments for allergens and minute pests. Be sure also to select a firm organic crib mattress that is comfortable enough for conversion to youth bed or futon. Standard 510 coil organic crib mattresses are the safest, and most popular choice for the eco-safe, natural nursery.
The following common sense strategies are generally accepted as wise SIDS prevention as well:
1. Infants should always be placed on their backs (a fully supine position) to nap or sleep for the night. When awake infants should be placed on tummy, and occasionally on back, to maximize healthy development of motor skills until able to roll to a more comfortable position by themselves!
2. Provide your baby a firm sleep surface. Standard 510 coil and above is fine. But be cautious when pricing organic mattresses ... you will see significantly less expensive mattresses, but they will be NO MORE THAN 180 coil !!
3. Keep soft objects and loose bedding between infant and mattress out of the way. Soft blankets, pillows, comforters, sheepskins, quilts, etc., should never be placed between the baby and mattress surface. For moisture and general organic mattress protection, use protective organic wool flat underlay pads instead. For older babies and toddlers, use 1 year warrantied tufted organic mattress toppers, organic quilts, comforters, and standard organic pillows.
4. Do not smoke during pregnancy. For that matter, never smoke near children at all.
5. For the first three months of life, provide a separate sleeping area for your baby that is in very close proximity to Mommy. Studies suggest SIDS appears to be reduced when an infant sleeps in the same room as the mother. Co-sleepers with organic mattress pads are perfect.
6. Offer your baby a pacifier when placing down for nap or bedtime. Do not reinsert once the baby is asleep. If your baby refuses the pacifier, don't force it. It's okay ... Baby is telling you the pacifier is not good right now, thanks.
7. Avoid Overheating. The infant should be lightly clothed for sleep, and the bedroom temperature should be kept comfortable for a lightly clothed adult. Overbundling should be avoided, and the infant should not feel hot to the touch.
8. Do not spend money on products claiming to prevent SIDS. Not even respiratory and cardiac monitors; and PLEASE not from some Infomercial!
Taking care of your new baby may seem daunting sometimes, but it's almost always just a matter of using common sense. As a new parent, it's best for your child that your opinions remain in the middle on the side of safety. Yes, organic crib bedding and organic cotton clothing aren't proven to prevent SIDS, but they MAY prevent SIDS. Why take any chances?
Crib Death (SIDS) From Toxic Gases in Mattresses
Factors That May Increase the Risk
(If you have not read the first part of this article, Has The Cause of Crib Death (SIDS) Been Found?, Parents Denied Crucial Findings, please read it first before continuing here.)
A baby's immature organs and other developing biological systems are particularly vulnerable to toxic contaminants (Mott 1997). All babies are susceptible to the toxic gases, but whether death, illness or just irritability occurs to a baby depends on certain other factors. As mentioned, face-down sleeping increases the risk of crib death (SIDS). Other factors include:
Re-Used Mattresses
The risk of death increases when mattresses are re-used from one baby to the next (Tappin 2002). The fungus has already had a chance to establish itself in the used mattress. When the next baby uses the same mattress, the fungus is soon active. Toxic gas production begins sooner and is generated in greater volume. It is known that crib death rates increase markedly from the first baby in a family to the second, and from the second to the third, and so on (Mitchell 2001).
High Room Temperature and Overwrapping
Overheating is believed to play a role in SIDS (Wells 1997). High room temperature and overwrapping of the baby can cause an increased risk of death, since toxic gas generation is greatly increased when the temperature of the bedding is raised. A five or six degree Fahrenheit climb in temperature of the mattress and bedding can make the fungi more active and thus increase gas generation about 10-20 times (Richardson 1991). High room temperature, an overload of blankets, or overdressing babies can cause them to receive higher doses of the gases.
Infections and Decreased Immunity
A baby with a strong immune system will have fewer infections. During infections, the heat (fever) generated by the baby's body increases the temperature of the bedding, which increases toxic gas generation. Heat stress (from infections and excessive room heat) is known to be a significant risk factor for SIDS (Guntheroth 2001). An infection can also lower a baby's tolerance to any given concentration of gases. More than 90 percent of SIDS babies have had upper respiratory infections shortly before death (Smith and Hattersley 2000).
Inadequate Vitamin C
Over 30 years ago, Archie Kalokerinos, M.D., a doctor practicing in the outback of Australia, was able to eliminate the unusually high incidence of SIDS by giving babies injections of ascorbate (vitamin C). Dr. Kalokerinos found that vitamin C deficiency was an important factor in the many diseases of the infants, especially sudden infant death. His work was independently duplicated in the U.S. by Fred Klenner, M.D. in Reidsville, North Carolina (Kalokerinos 1981).
Submissions of this evidence and documented case studies were made to the medical authorities and SIDS experts, both in Australia and the U.S. This evidence was completely ignored and no clinical trials were recommended. Dr. Kalokerinos tells his story in Every Second Child, a book that demonstrates the reluctance of many doctors to accept new ideas (Kalokerinos 1981).
The systems of the body cannot function without adequate vitamin C. It's been shown that many infants have marginal amounts in their bodies (Kalokerinos 1981). Any stress, including injury or illness, can increase the body's need for vitamin C (Cathcart 1981). Under conditions such as vaccinations (Kalokerinos 1981, Pauling 1981), upper respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, malnutrition, and other viral and bacterial infections, the existing vitamin C can be completely used up, leaving the immune system unable to cope with any toxic threat to the body. This can leave a baby more vulnerable to the toxic gases in mattresses (Smith and Hattersley 2000).
Dr. Sprott explains another reason why administering vitamin C to a baby can lessen the chances of death from toxic gases. "The high alkaline pH of babies' urine, dribble, perspiration, and vomit enables the fungus to grow and to generate the toxic gases rapidly. But consumption of vitamin C makes these bodily fluids acidic, reversing the alkalinity in the baby's crib environment and preventing gas generation." (Sprott 1996)
Vaccinations
Vaccines are known to cause fevers in babies (CDC 2001). These fevers can increase generation of the gases, exposing babies to higher concentrations. In addition, vaccines can lead to the depletion of vitamin C in a baby's body (Hattersley 1993 and Pauling 1981), and damage the developing nervous and immune systems. Vaccines have also been shown to cause stressed breathing (Scheibner 1993), weakened immunity, and neurological damage (Neustaedter 1996), which can lower the baby's ability to tolerate a given concentration of toxic gases.
Vaccines Alone Can Cause Death
Many researchers, doctors, scientists, and parents believe that vaccines alone can cause SIDS. Indeed, vaccines do cause death, and vaccine deaths are often labeled as SIDS cases. As Dawn Winkler, former Vice President of Concerned Parents for Vaccine Safety, points out, "The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has even compensated 93 families whose infants' deaths were labeled SIDS because the parent had the evidence in the autopsy to prove the vaccine caused it. Yet, the cause of death listing as "SIDS" was never changed on the death certificates of these 93 babies." (Winkler 2000)
Many "SIDS" parents have told the same story. Their previously healthy babies were not the same from the time they were vaccinated until they died. A high-pitched scream, excessive sleeping, poor appetite, and troubled breathing were common. At the time of death, no one investigates whether these babies could have died directly from the vaccines alone or if vaccine damage may have lowered the babies' capacity to withstand the toxic gases in their mattresses. No one investigates this because our government and the medical community deny that vaccines or toxic gases could be causes of death. Instead they label these deaths as SIDS and maintain that they do not know the cause. They refuse to accept the research that has already been done in both of these areas and remain steadfast in their commitment to deny any further research. Health officials continually refer to vaccine manufacturer-sponsored studies reporting no relationship between vaccines and SIDS. Some of these studies have been strongly criticized (Coulter 1996) and called into question because of potential biases that underestimate the risk of SIDS from vaccines (Fine 1992).
The assumption that SIDS is vaccine-related could very well be accurate. It may be that vaccines are an indirect factor in SIDS cases, and may even be the deciding factor that could cause a baby to succumb to the toxic gases. Perhaps some or even many SIDS babies may have survived the toxic insult of the gases were it not for vaccinations.
Unfortunately, we have to leave this to speculation since this is not studied. But what we do know is that not one baby has died sleeping on a properly wrapped mattress. Many of the babies sleeping on wrapped mattresses were vaccinated, but none of them were exposed to the gases. Vaccination rates among the Pakeha (non-Maori) people in New Zealand, who have enthusiastically adopted mattress-wrapping, are very high. These people now have the lowest crib death rate in the world. The crib death rate is about seven times higher among Maori babies in New Zealand, who have not adopted mattress-wrapping and who are vaccinated far less than the Pakeha.
In Victory Over Crib Death, Lendon H. Smith, MD and Joseph G. Hattersley, MA astutely point out, "If vaccinations directly caused crib death, the proportions would be reversed." The article Victory Over Crib Death is a summary of Smith's and Hattersley's book, The Infant Survival Guide: Protecting Your Baby From the Dangers of Crib Death, Vaccines and Other Environmental Hazards. This book is considered by some to be a definitive guide to ending the terrible tragedy of crib death and proposes a new paradigm; that toxic gases are the single cause of nearly all crib deaths. In addition to advocating mattress-wrapping, the authors strongly recommend against vaccinations.
Natural, non-toxic baby crib mattress - More Information
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Use the information provided here as an educational resource for determining your options and making your own informed choices. Healthy Child does NOT make ANY claims that using a non-toxic mattress or wrapping a mattress will prevent SIDS since this has not been 100% scientifically proven. Vaccines are also known to cause SIDS. However, the fact that there have been no SIDS deaths among the vast number of babies in New Zealand who have slept on correctly wrapped mattresses is crucial information for parents. This fact cannot be denied and should not be suppressed. The evidence is very compelling, and we believe that parents should be informed so they can make their own decisions on how to protect their babies.
References
Cathcart, Robert F. III, M.D. 1981. Vitamin C, Titrating to Bowel Tolerance, Anascorbemia, and Acute Induced Scurvy. Medical Hypotheses, 7:1359-1376.
Center for Disease Control (CDC). 2001. Vaccine Side Effects. www.cdc.gov/nip
Coulter, Harris. 1996. Vaccination Debate: Do Vaccines Cause Cot Deaths? Center For Empirical Medicine.
Fine, P.E., VMD and Chen, R.T., MD. 1992. Confounding in Studies of Adverse Reactions to Vaccines. American Journal of Epidemiology, July 15, 1992; 136(2):121-135.
Guntheroth, W.G.and Spiers, P.S. 2001. Thermal Stress in Sudden Infant Death. Pediatrics. Apr; 107(4): 693-8.
Hattersley, Joseph. 1993. The Answer to Crib Death "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" (SIDS). Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Volume 8, Number 4, 1993, pp.229-245
Kalokerinos, Archie, M.D. 1981. Every Second Child. New Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing.
Mitchell, P.R. 2001. Analysis of Official UK Statistics for Cot Deaths and Infant Deaths by Other Causes, 1996-1999.
Mott, L. 1997. Our Children at Risk: The Five Worst Environmental Threats to Their Health, Natural Resources Defense Council, November 1997
Neustaedter, Randall, OMD. 1996. The Vaccine Guide: Making An Informed Choice. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Pauling, Linus. 1981. Foreword to Every Second Child by Kalokerinos. New Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing.
Richardson, B.A. 1991. Cot Death: Must Babies Still Die? November 1991
Scheibner, Viera. 1993. Vaccination: The Medical Assault on the Immune System. Blackheath, NSW Australia: V. Scheibner.
Smith, Lendon H., M.D., and Joseph Hattersley. 2000. The Infant Survival Guide: Protecting Your Baby From the Dangers of Crib Death, Vaccines and Other Environmental Hazards. Petaluma, CA: Smart Publications.
Smith, Lendon H., M.D., and Joseph Hattersley. 2000. Victory Over Crib Death. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. Aug/Sept.
Sprott, T.J. 1996. The Cot Death Cover-Up? Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books.
Tappin et al, Used infant mattresses and sudden infant death syndrome in Scotland: case-control study, British Medical Journal 2002; 325:1007
Wells, J.C. 1997. Can Risk Factors for Over-Heating Explain Epidemiological Features of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome? Med Hypotheses. Feb; 48(2):103-6.
Winkler, Dawn. 2000. SIDS - Do Vaccines Play a Role? e
Healthy News You Can Use - www.mercola.com. November 19 - Issue 180.
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