So I know many of us are fired up over the recent study/media coverage addressing the Burden of Not Breastfeeding to Americans, and the claim by the authors of the study that breastfeeding prevents SIDS. The following comes directly from the American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement and the Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Relationship Between Breastfeeding and SIDS
"Although some studies show a protective effect of breastfeeding on SIDS, others do not. In addition, a recent article has demonstrated that although breastfeeding is associated with decreased postneonatal deaths overall, it is not associated with a reduced risk of SIDS. Many of the case-control studies demonstrate a protective effect of breastfeeding against SIDS in a univariate analysis but not when confounding factors are taken into account.... Although breastfeeding is beneficial and should be promoted for many reasons, the task force believes that the evidence is insufficient to recommend breastfeeding as a strategy to reduce SIDS."

I also found this interesting in the same Policy Statement, unrelated to breastfeeding.....

Immunizations and SIDS
"Reports of a possible association between diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus immunications and SIDS brought forth a series of reivews and studies that refuted the association. Still, of 100 deaths reported to the federally administered Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System from 1997 to 1998, approximatley half were attributed to SIDS."

This information was published in 2005 and reaffirmed in 2009 the by the American Academy of Pediatrics in the peer reviewed journal PEDIATRICS. The name of the policy statment is "The Changing Concept of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Diagnostic Coding Shifts, Controversies Regarding the Sleeping Environment, and New Variables to Consider in Reducing Risk."

Love and hugs! - Brandy