When a baby sleeping on his stomach tries to move his face away from his bedding, he may inadvertently compress arteries in his neck, which can cut off blood flow to the brain, say researchers from Australia's University of Sydney and New South Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine. That, in turn, could damage the nerve centres which help to control involuntary functions such as breathing and, ultimately, lead to the baby's death. All babies under the age of one are at risk from cot death since doctors still have no way to pinpoint those with the most relevant abnormalities. Some children, however, have a higher risk of cot death than the general population does. Experts have identified these characteristics.
Boys are at slightly higher risk than girls.
Low-birthweight infants, twins, and other multiples are also at higher risk. Also, cot death is more common during cold weather months. You can do a number of things to decrease your baby's risk, but at present there's no way to prevent cot death. Here are the most important steps to take. This is the single most important thing you can do to help protect your baby.