Young babies at risk of 'sudden death' syndrome while seated: study

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2007

PARIS (AFP) — Very young babies face a small risk of sudden death when seated, and not only when they are lying down, according to a study published online by Archives of Disease in Childhood, a British journal.

The findings are based on an analysis of cases of sudden, unexpected deaths that occurred among infants up to the age of 12 months in Quebec, Canada, between 1991 and 2000.

Of 508 fully investigated deaths, 17, or 3.3 percent, occurred in babies who had been placed in seats, most often in car seats. The relative risk was much higher among babies who were less than a month old.

The authors, led by Aurore Cote at the McGill University Health Center in Montreal, say the risk was relatively small and do not call car-seat safety into question.

But...