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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) - Sids In History

babies blamed rare mothers

The phenomenon of sudden death in babies has been recorded for centuries. SIDS has been described as a distinct disorder for nearly a century. In 1979 it was officially accepted as a cause of death. The current definition of the condition was developed by the National Institutes of Health in 1989.

As sleeping habits for families and babies changed over time so have the explanations offered for sudden death. Until a century ago infants and small children slept in the same beds as their mother. When babies were found dead their mothers were often blamed for rolling on top of them. In the 1700s and 1800s mothers were accused of rolling on their babies while drunk. After noting that SIDS is very rare in Asian countries where parents and babies typically sleep together, some recent researchers have theorized that sleeping with a parent might help regulate an infant's respiration and thus prevent SIDS.

In the early 1900s in the United States when cosleeping became rare, sudden death was blamed on dressing a baby too warmly at night. Before physicians realized that all babies have large thymus glands, enlargements of the thymus gland were also blamed for SIDS.

Studies release in 2003 showed no correlation between immunization schedules and SIDS death.


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over 1 year ago

To the dipshit called TF: because of people like you, diseases that have been dormat for many years are starting to resurface because some fakey nut doctor in the UK released a bogus study. He has since been disbarred. SIDS has been around much longer than vaccines have been available, so common sense states its not the reason. The fact is some children just dont breath well as night because their systems are not fully matured. Just as adults have sleep apnea, children can have the same thing. Problem is they die from it sooner than a large adult would.

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9 months ago

Hi .. im only 17 and i have no clue what the f*** you guys are talking about .. SIDS is when a baby just suffocates because it somehow gets underneath something and has no way to get back out where the air is ... :O Why would anyone think it's a disease is beyond comprehension ... but w.e. some people are just idiots ..

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almost 2 years ago

SIDS as a cause of death is a joke.

"no correlation to immunization schedules"... say WHO???!!!



SIDS is a catch all excuse to get pediatricians off th hook for killing babies with vaccines. Vaccines are a crock, they dont stop desease, that cuase it. Vaccines kill babies and it's called "SIDS".

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almost 2 years ago

To talk about SIDS without talking about the lie in a disservice! A white woman murder five children and because she was white she was able to murder! The white Doctor that investigated was inform by his nurses and refuse to believe that the white woman would murder her own children! He made million off the study of this white woman! So SIDS started off as a LIE!

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almost 5 years ago

Im doing a research paper on sids and i just think im am so lucky that i didnt not get SIDS. i was born three mths early and wieghed 1lb.and 15.oz! So if it wasnt for the reasearchers on this diesease iu could be died.. thanks!!