10-07-2025
Cheap kitchen staple ‘protects against tragic sudden infant death' which kills hundreds of kids a year, scientists say
If the researchers' theory proves true, it could complement, rather than replace, existing risk reduction strategies
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IN THE KNOW Cheap kitchen staple 'protects against tragic sudden infant death' which kills hundreds of kids a year, scientists say
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A POPULAR household ingredient could be key in preventing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), say researchers.
They explain it could prevent dangerous drops in oxygen that may trigger deaths.
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Caffeine consumed during pregnancy or passed through breast milk might provide early protection against SIDS
Credit: Getty
In the UK, approximately 200 babies die each year from SIDS, also known as cot death.
The exact cause is unknown, but it's believed to be a combination of factors, including a vulnerability in the infant's development and environmental stressors.
Experts say placing a baby to sleep on their back reduces the risk, while exposing a baby to cigarette smoke or allowing them to overheat increases the risk.
And now researchers at Rutgers Health suggest caffeine could also offer protection.
SIDS is a leading cause of death for infants between one month and one year of age.
"We've been concerned about why the rates haven't changed," said Dr Thomas Hegyi, a neonatologist at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and lead author of the study.
"So, we wanted to explore new ways of approaching the challenge."
Many of the known risk factors for SIDS share a physiological common denominator - "intermittent hypoxia".
Intermittent hypoxia is a condition where a person experiences repeated episodes of low oxygen levels (hypoxia) interspersed with periods of normal oxygen levels (normoxia).
What can counter intermittent hypoxia? Caffeine, said Hegyi.
Beautiful' baby boy dies after mum fell asleep cuddling him into her when he woke up crying in the night
Caffeine has long been used as a safe treatment for apnoea in premature infants, stimulating breathing.
But what makes caffeine particularly intriguing as a proposed preventative measure is how infants process it.
While adults metabolise caffeine in about four hours, in newborns, it can be as long as 100 hours - and it can stay in their system for weeks.
This may explain why SIDS peaks between two and four months of age.
As infants mature, they begin metabolising caffeine more quickly.
So the researchers, in their findings published in the Journal of Perinatology, suggest caffeine consumed during pregnancy or passed through breast milk might provide early protection that wanes as metabolism speeds up.
The theory could also explain why breastfeeding appears to protect against SIDS.
"We hypothesise that the protection afforded by breast milk is, in part, due to caffeine," wrote the researchers.
Barbara Ostfeld, a professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the programme director of the SIDS Centre of New Jersey and co-author of the paper, said if the theory proves true, giving infants caffeine would complement, not replace, existing risk reduction strategies.
The researchers plan to test their hypothesis by comparing caffeine levels in infants who died of SIDS with those who died from other causes, such as trauma or disease.
They also said it was important to note this is hypothesis-generating research meant to inspire further studies, and not a recommendation for parents to give their babies caffeine.
