SIDS products alarm experts

A burst of new products is appearing on store shelves, mail-ordercatalogs and Internet sites with bold claims of relieving one of newparents' worst fears: sudden infant death syndrome.

The trend alarms medical and safety experts, who say most suchproducts haven't been adequately tested and might actually heightenthe risk.

The cause of SIDS is far from certain, but that's not stoppingeager entrepreneurs.

There are special mattresses with mesh coverings or built-in fans,mattress pads and crib sheets with specially formulated air holes -all designed to increase the flow of fresh air to a baby's face. Apolyethylene "cot wrap" from New Zealand covers a baby mattress tokeep away possible toxins. And dozens of sleep positioners aredevised to keep infants from sleeping on their stomachs, whichmedical experts believe increases the risk of SIDS.

Experts say none of these devices is needed as medical researchhas shown the surest, simplest way to reduce risk is to put a baby tosleep on its back on a firm mattress, with no comforters, pillows,stuffed toys or other soft bedding items.

They also point to a recent study by the St. Louis UniversitySchool of Medicine that showed most of these new mattresses andmattress pads don't decrease the amount of carbon dioxide around ababy's face, but rather increase it. Only one mattress - a $200 modelwith a fan - did lower carbon dioxide, addressing some researchers'belief that SIDS might occur when babies, sleeping face down, breathetheir own exhaled carbon dioxide and asphyxiate.

"Any time there's a new area of research, products come in to fillthe gap," said Judith Jacobson, executive vice president of the SIDSAlliance, a nonprofit voluntary organization. "Many of these productsare playing on parents' fears, but all these products are reallyunnecessary if a baby is sleeping on her back on a firm, flat cribmattress."

"No products have ever been shown to decrease the incidence ofSIDS," added John Kattwinkel, chairman of the American Academy ofPediatrics' task force on infant positioning and SIDS. "My mainconcern is that parents may be misled into thinking that if they usesome of these devices, they won't need to pay attention to ourrecommendation to put babies on their back."

SIDS deaths have declined sharply in recent years, when theacademy began telling parents to put babies to sleep on their backsor sides. The death rate attributed to SIDS for babies born in theUnited States today is 0.69 of 1,000 live births - or, put anotherway, 99.931 percent of babies will not die of SIDS.