SUID and a Cardboard Box.

A paper in the journal Pediatrics examines the demographics and sleep environments of over 8,000 sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) victims in the United States from 2011 to 2020. The authors conclude that most SUID cases had multiple unsafe sleep factors present, emphasizing the need for comprehensive sleep counseling for every family. However, the broadness of this conclusion may not resonate with busy pediatricians. The paper suggests that asking simple questions about crib availability and engaging families on their motivation for surface-sharing could help target advice to individual families. The authors also highlight the potential benefits of providing families with cardboard boxes as safe and inexpensive sleep surfaces, particularly for families facing poverty and residential insecurity. [Extracted from the article]