A new
study focuses on one potential cause of sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS): difficulty in
arousing from sleep.
Pediatricians in Victoria, Australia, tested
how much stimulation was necessary to rouse 43
sleeping infants aged 2 to 4 weeks, 2 to 3 months,
and 5 to 6 months. The researchers injected a jet
of air into the infants' nostrils at various
pressures to see how much was necessary to awaken
the infants. They compared the responses of
breastfed infants with those of formula-fed
infants in all three age groups.
At 2 to 3 months, during periods of active
sleep (the time when infants should rouse in
response to restricted breathing), the breastfed
infants were significantly easier to awaken than
the formula-fed infants. Two to three months is
the age when the risk of SIDS is greatest. (Archives
of Disease in Childhood, 2004, vol. 89: pp.
22-25)