SIDS…How a Parent’s Worst Fear Can Be Prevented.

 

Becoming a parent can be overwhelming, scary and full of unknowns. Your whole world becomes consumed with caring for your newborn and you worry about every little thing. Are you doing things right? Is your baby happy and healthy? You watch them sleep and check on them constantly…but for good reason. One of the biggest concerns that new parents have is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS. Below I will explain SIDS and ways you can protect your baby from this heartbreaking syndrome.

What is SIDS?

•   Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexplained death of a baby younger     than 1 year old.

·         About 2,300 babies in the United States die of SIDS each year.

·         SIDS is more likely to affect a baby who is between 1 and 4 months old.

·         SIDS is more common in boys than girls.

·         Most deaths occur during the fall, winter and early spring months.

 

What are the Risk Factors for SIDS?

• Sleeping on their stomach or their side, rather than their back.
• Overheating when sleeping.
• Sleeping on a surface that is too soft or filled with fluffy blankets or soft toys.
• Mothers who smoked during pregnancy (three times more likely to have a baby with SIDS).
• Exposure to passive smoke.
• Mothers who are younger than 20 years old at the time of their first pregnancy.
• Being born to mothers who had little, late, or no prenatal care.
• Born prematurely or with low birth weight.
• Having a sibling who died of SIDS.

What You Can Do as a Parent to Protect Your Baby:

·         Attend all prenatal care visits.

·         Don’t allow anyone to smoke around your baby.

·         Provide a safe sleep environment:

o   Always place baby on his or her back to sleep.

o   Use a firm and flat surface in a safety-approved crib, covered by a fitted sheet and free of soft and loose bedding, crib bumpers, stuffed animals, and toys.

o   Share your room with baby. Keep baby close to your bed but on a separate surface, for example, in their own crib or bassinet.

·         Breastfeed your baby.

 

Jessica Mathews, Children’s Services Program Specialist

Division of Health Care Services

Clinton County Health Department

Fostering Body Positivity in your Children

 

Mallory Gonia, Senior Year

Growing up my parents tried their best to ensure I had self-confidence and a positive body image. There
is not one single occurrence where either of my parents negatively commented on the appearance of my body or weight growing even during a period of my adolescent years when I was overweight. My Mom and Dad always made me feel loved and told me I was beautiful every day.

My fiancé was not as lucky. Instead of building my fiancé’s confidence, his father broke down any self-confidence he had. Instead of being told he was handsome, he was told he was fat and ugly.

Somehow even with drastically different upbringings, as teenagers we lacked body confidence and WE both developed eating disorders. Now as an adult no longer being in that negative environment my fiancé has a positive body image and his self-confidence is much higher. I will admit for myself I still struggle with my body image from time to time, but overall I am more confident and much happier.

Research shows that a negative body image is the most influential factor to the development of eating disorders, specifically anorexia and bulimia. In some cases there may be obvious factors that contribute to teens having a disordered or negative body image, potentially leading to eating disorders, such as bullying in school and/or online or negative body comments made by parents, caregivers or other family members. For me growing up I was never bullied for being overweight. Based on my history, there would seem to be absolutely no reason for me to have developed an eating disorder, but I still did.

Parental behavior can have a huge impact on children’s body image. Even parents like mine who never put pressure on me regarding my own weight, may be unintentionally contributing to a disordered body image in their children.

I can’t even count how many times my Mother had a wardrobe malfunction before events because she looked “fat” in all her clothes. At all family gatherings, to this day, there are always conversations around weight loss, body image and dieting. At these events there is always one or more relatives who can’t eat the dessert because he/she is on a “diet”. In 10^th grade I began playing school sports. Naturally, without trying, I lost a significant amount of weight that year. Family started noticing and I was told how great I looked and how skinny I was. There were never any comments complementing me on eating healthy and exercising to better my health, just on my physical appearance. These family dynamics had a huge impact on how I saw my own body and what food choices I made. I began to really focus on how my clothes looked on me and became overly conscious about eating healthy so I could maintain this weight loss.

With social media, the pressure on children to look a certain way is high. This makes it very important to foster body positivity starting from a young age. Pre-teens and teens who already have a positive body image may be more prepared to handle the stress and pressure of growing up in today’s social media centered world.

I believe the first step to fostering a positive body image begins in the home. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 40-60% of girls age 6-12 are concerned with their weight and becoming fat. Parents are typically the most influential adults in children’s lives at this age. One important thing parents can do to encourage body positivity in their children is by having body confidence themselves. Parents lead by example and should be mindful of the way they talk about weight, self-appearance and food. As parents and caretakers, I encourage you to:

• Promote a balanced diet in response to body hunger,
• Not use food as a reward or punishment, and
• Tell your child(ren) that weight does not define happiness.

Every one of us has something we can thank our bodies for and at some point in our lives we may take our bodies for granted. Teach children to love their bodies for what they do and not for what they look like. This is something I wish I could have done at 15.

Mallory Gonia

Public Health Nutrition Educator 

Division of Health Planning and Promotion