SIDS by Baby's Age
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of death among infants between 1 month and 1 year of age.
Even though SIDS can occur any time during a baby's first year, most SIDS deaths occur in babies between 1 and 4 months of age.
SIDS is less common after 8 months of age, but parents and caregivers should continue to follow safe sleep practices to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death until baby's first birthday.
More than 90% of all SIDS deaths occur before 6 months of age.
72% of SIDS deaths occur in Months 1–4.
To reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death:
Always place baby on his or her back to sleep, for naps and at night.
Graphic: Back sleeping baby icon.
Share your room with baby. Keep baby close to your bed, on a separate surface designed for infants.
Graphic: Room sharing icon.
Use a firm and flat sleep surface, such as a mattress in a safety-approved crib*, covered by a fitted sheet with no other bedding or soft items in the sleep area.
Graphic: Crib icon.
Breastfeed your baby to reduce the risk of SIDS.
Graphic: Breastfeeding icon.
*For information on crib safety, contact the CPSC at 1-800-638-2772 or http://www.cpsc.gov.
Graphic: Safe to Sleep logo®.
Learn more about ways to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death at http://safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov.
Graphic: Logo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, links to https://www.hhs.gov/.
Graphic: Logo of the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, links to https://www.nichd.nih.gov/.
Graphic: Twitter logo
Graphic: Facebook logo
Graphic: Pinterest logo
Graphic: Instagram logo
Back to SIDS by Baby's Age infographic.
