Health Research

Oct 6 2008

Using a Fan During Sleep May Reduce Infants' SIDS Risk, Kaiser Permanente Study Shows

Infants who slept in a bedroom with a fan ventilating the air had a 72 percent lower risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome compared to infants who slept in a bedroom without a fan, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The study appears in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

It's the first study to examine an association between better air ventilation in infants' bedrooms and reduced SIDS risk. SIDS is the leading cause of death among infants aged 1 to 12 months, and the third leading cause of overall infant mortality in the United States.

The finding is consistent with previous research that showed factors influencing a baby's sleep environment may change SIDS risk. Among those factors are sleeping on the stomach and soft bedding, both of which may limit air ventilation around an infant's breathing pathway and thus increase the chance of re-breathing exhaled carbon dioxide, said the researchers.

Researchers explained that fan use is no substitute for practices known to reduce the risk for sudden infant death syndrome, which include: always placing infants to sleep on their backs, putting infants to sleep on firm mattresses and avoiding soft bedding materials like comforters and quilts, providing a separate sleep environment, preventing infants from overheating, and not smoking around infants. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

For more information, read this press release.