What Are Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths?

A woman reaches toward her baby, who is lying on their back in a crib next to her bed.

Other sleep-related infant deaths are deaths linked to how or where a baby sleeps or slept.

They can include deaths from the following:1

  • Suffocation: Something, such as a pillow or an adult’s arm, covers baby’s face and nose.
  • Strangulation: Something presses on or wraps around baby’s neck or head.
  • Entrapment or wedging: Baby’s body or head gets stuck between two objects, such as a mattress and wall, bed frame, or furniture.

These deaths are different from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), but they are a type of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID).

An illustration of a baby with soft bedding in the crib, which can limit breathing. An illustration of overlay: When another person shares the sleep surface with the infant and lays on or rolls on top of or against the infant while sleeping, blocking the infant's airway. An illustration of wedging/entrapment: when a baby’s body or head gets stuck between two objects, such as a mattress, and bed frame, or furniture.

Illustrations courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Learn how to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths.

  1. Moon, R. Y., Carlin, R. F., Hand, I., Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, & Committee on Fetus and Newborn. (2022). Sleep-related infant deaths: Updated 2022 recommendations for reducing infant deaths in the sleep environment. Pediatrics, 150(1), e2022057990. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35726558/.