What causes SIDS?

Although the exact causes are unknown, several studies on SIDS have offered important insights on some plausible factors:

It is found that babies who sleep on their stomachs are at a higher risk for SIDS. Researchers are still studying why sleeping on the stomach is hazardous, though some believe that it may be attributed to smothering when their faces get caught in bedding.

In many SIDS babies, abnormalities are found in parts of the brain that control breathing during sleep and the ability to wake up. This finding has led researchers to suspect that babies with brain abnormalities may lack the natural protective mechanism to wake up from sleep and take a breath when oxygen flow is disrupted and thus may be more vulnerable to sudden death during infancy.

In another study, researches have found that in many SIDS cases, the babies apparently had respiratory or gastrointestinal infections prior to their deaths. This fact may explain why more SIDS cases occur during the colder months of the year.