Parents of infants often have to worry about their kids: the crumbs are born so weak, fragile and vulnerable. Someone does not sleep at night because of the childhood diseases, but to someone in the house comes a real tragedy, whose name - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. What is it and how can you avoid such an end?

SIDS

For the first time the term "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" (or "sudden infant death syndrome") was introduced in 1969. Research conducted this problem before, and at the end of the XX century doctors began to identify the causes of SIDS be given special attention. However, to this day, pediatricians can not say exactly why some seemingly perfectly healthy and feel great babies die in their sleep.

The syndrome of sudden infant death overtakes infants. A healthy and well-fed baby to sleep, never to wake up - while you sleep Dreams: how to understand our dreams   he stops breathing. And even an autopsy can not determine the reason why the baby suddenly stopped breathing.

Risk factors

Causes of SIDS are still not precisely known. However, doctors have found a number of factors that go along with the risk of sleep apnea in young children. Most often, according to pediatricians, SIDS occurs under the influence of a complex of factors, but exact data on this subject yet. Factors that increase the risk of sudden death in infants include:

• Sleeping on the stomach. In the old manuals on child care is often recommended to lay baby to sleep on his tummy. But today proved that sleeping on the stomach is the major risk factor for UMICs. Since WHO began to recommend to lay baby to sleep on his back, the number of sudden infant death has declined in many countries in two or three times;
• Overheating. Excessive wrapping the child during sleep can lead to a sudden stop breathing Stop breathing (apnea) during sleep - upper airway obstruction . At the same time, hypothermia also considered a risk factor;
• Use pillows, pillow-top mattresses, sleeping on the couch;
• Co-sleeping child with his mother;
• Sleeping child in a separate room from their parents;
• Stop breathing history of the child or his siblings;
• Socially disadvantaged mothers, including mothers under 20 years old, who do not seek prenatal care;
• Smoking, alcohol and drugs (especially heroin) mother during pregnancy;
• Diseases of the mother during pregnancy;
• Obstructed labor (particularly in the case of breech SIDS risk increases seven times);
• Long-term births (at birth of more than 16 hours, the risk of SIDS doubles);
• Too short (less than one year), the interval between pregnancies;
• Previous mother's pregnancy ends in miscarriage;
• Prematurity;
• Severe prenatal stress, various problems of prenatal development;
• Artificial feeding;
• Failure to take the child's own mother's breast.

The most dangerous age is the period from two to four months. Boys sudden infant death syndrome threatens more often than girls - 61 per cent of cases stops breathing during sleep in infants male.

How to reduce risk?

Although the exact causes of SIDS are not yet defined, able to reduce the risk of the parents of the syndrome to a minimum. Preventive measures to prevent sudden infant death include:

• Disclaimer mother's smoking, alcohol and drug use during pregnancy and lactation. It is proved that bad habits Bad habits - second nature?   lead to serious violations of the fetus Fetal development - week after week   and increase the risk UMICs;
• Lack of prenatal stress;
• Breast-feeding. It is believed that malyshi- "bottle-" more at risk of sudden infant death. At the same time, there is a view that non-nutritive sucking helps prevent UMICs;
• Proper organization of a place to sleep. It should give up the soft feather beds, pillows, thick blankets. The base of the bed should be firm and level. Do not stack the baby to sleep on the couch. The room temperature must not be too high;
• Sleeping on your back. The position on the side considered to be potentially dangerous, because a pipsqueak can turn over in his sleep, even if he still does not know how to turn consciously;
• Careful attention to the child. According to statistics UMICs cases are most common in dysfunctional families where children do not pay enough attention and do not apply to the pediatrician for checkups;
• The use of special devices to monitor the breathing of the child. By themselves, such devices, of course, can not reduce the risk of UMICs, but they allow you to notice the problem and make the necessary arrangements as soon as possible. As a rule, the use of these devices is recommended to families where there have been cases of respiratory arrest in infants;
• Sleeping in the same room with their parents. As in the previous case, the location of a cot next to the parent does not protect from respiratory failure, but allows you to detect the problem in the short term.

Joint sleep and UMICs

Co-sleeping mothers and children in recent years in fashion: many mothers allows the dream to establish lactation, and sometimes it is the only way to calm an excited kid. However, many pediatricians include a shared dream to risk factors. Stops breathing in the crumbs, sleeping with his mother, there are too many to ignore this fact. According to doctors, the safest place for a baby is his own bed, no matter how convenient it may seem, a joint dream of his mother.

The risk increases if:

• one of the parents smokes;
• the child's mother is in a state of alcoholic intoxication (even easy);
• Mom kid feels very tired;
• Mother child sleeps very soundly, waking up with difficulty;
• crumbs mother takes drugs that cause drowsiness;
• the child was born prematurely and with low birth weight.

Maria Bykov

  Pneumonia - is a general term that refers to infection of the lungs caused by a variety of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. In most cases, pneumonia can be caused by viruses, such as adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus and the parainfluenza viruses.

Often pneumonia in both children and adults, begins after an upper respiratory infection.

Signs and symptoms of pneumonia in children

Signs and symptoms of pneumonia vary, depending on the child's age and the cause of the disease. The most common symptoms are:

• Fever
• Chills
• Cough
• Nasal congestion, runny nose
• Rapid breathing (in some cases it may be the only symptom)
• Shortness of breath, in which you can see how the intercostal muscles tense during each breath
• Vomiting
• Chest pain
• Abdominal pain
• Lack of appetite
• Reduced activity
• In extreme cases, bluish or gray color of the lips and fingertips

In children with pneumonia caused by bacteria, symptoms usually appear very quickly - it may look like a sudden attack of fever, accompanied by shortness of breath. With viral pneumonia symptoms appear gradually and are usually milder, although wheezing is more often when viral pneumonia.

Some of the symptoms of pneumonia make it possible to understand exactly what microbes cause disease. For example, older children and adolescents with pneumonia, caused by a mycoplasma, there are a sore throat, headache and skin rashes, along with the usual symptoms of pneumonia.

In infants, pneumonia due to chlamydia may be accompanied by conjunctivitis, while slightly malaise, and body temperature only slightly increases.

incubation period

Incubation period depends on the type of pneumonia. If the agent of the disease - respiratory syncytial virus, the first symptoms appear 4-6 days after infection; If pneumonia is caused by the influenza virus Influenza - expect the unexpected but always , The incubation period is only eighteen to seventy-two hours.

Duration

With adequate treatment of bacterial pneumonia in most cases it cures within one or two weeks. Viral pneumonia may last longer. Full recovery from mycoplasma pneumonia Mycoplasma pneumonia - respiratory pathogens   It comes only after 4-6 weeks.

Contagiousness

Viruses and bacteria causing pneumonia, typically contagious. Typically, they are present in the fluids of the mouth and nose of patients. The disease can be spread by airborne droplets, and when used with patients the same dish.

Prevention

From some varieties exist pneumonia vaccine. From many of these children are vaccinated during the first months of life. Children with chronic diseases, which is particularly high risk of developing pneumonia, sometimes need additional vaccinations or regular medications, strengthens the immune system The immune system - how it works? . It is strongly recommended to be vaccinated against pathogens of pneumonia in children with chronic disorders of the heart, lungs and asthma patients.

If a family where there is a baby who is sick with pneumonia, your doctor may prescribe a child prophylactic antibiotics Antibiotics - whether they will help you in the foreseeable future? .

To reduce the risk of infection, it is necessary to allocate the patient a separate bowl and towel. If possible, reduce contact with a sick child. Let the kid as much fruit and vitamins (age permitting), to walk with them in the open air. All this helps strengthen the overall health and if contamination does occur, probably the disease will occur in a relatively soft manner.

When to see a doctor

When the child has the following symptoms of pneumonia should immediately seek medical help:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• The skin on the lips and fingertips acquired a bluish or grayish hue
• Body temperature above 38.9S, 38C or higher in children younger than six months