It’s something no parent should have to worry about – yet tragically, each year parents experience their worst nightmare. Sudden infant death syndrome (commonly called SIDS) occurs when a healthy baby under 12 months dies during sleep without explanation. October is SIDS Awareness Month and we’re here to give you a breakdown of what SIDS is, tips on how to help prevent it, and ways to educate your friends and family.

In May, new research on the potential causes of SIDS was published by an Australian research team and it cause a lot of noise in the media; both hopeful and skeptical. Multiple sources reported that they’d “found the cause of SIDS”. We’re breaking it down: what the new SIDS research found, if it’s definitive or not, what it means for parents, and what you can do to help lower the risk of SIDS. Let’s get into it.