FROM NBC: New moms can worry about one less thing at a North Texas Hospital. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome strikes newborn babies without warning. "SIDS" is the leading cause of death in babies younger than a year. 25-hundred babies die each year.
Texas Health Plano is promoting a new sleep safe program. Ryan Mcelroy, Pediatrician: "SIDS is the number one cause of death in kids under 12 months of age, so they found that back sleeping is the number one thing parents can do to help prevent SIDS."
Doctor Ryan Mcelroy says the exact cause of SIDS is still unknown, but cases dropped over 50-percent nationwide when doctors began suggesting babies sleep on their back. To help promote that, the hospital began teaching parents to swaddle their babies.Some parents say it can be difficult.
Lauren Davis/New Mom: "Well, especially with your first baby it's all so new to you, you have all these blankets and you're trying to fold it correctly and it ends up around their face." That's why the hospital began carrying the Halo Sleep Sack. Dr. Ryan Mcelroy/ pediatrician: "They came up with these sleep sacks awhile back and what they are, are these wearable blankets.
They zip up in the front and the baby sleeps in this almost like a sleeping bag." Mcelroy says they're lightweight, so they keep the baby from overheating. And Lauren says they're a lot easier than the old way-which is always a plus for a new mom.
-NewsAnchorMom Jen