Nearly Three in Four Sudden Infant Deaths in CDC Registry Involved Unsafe Sleep, Most Often an Adult Bed

Nearly three in four sudden unexpected infant deaths reviewed in a new federal report happened with unsafe sleep factors present, and more than half of the babies were found in an adult bed or futon. The report, published Sept. 10 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, covers 4,861 deaths from 2020 through 2024.

Sudden unexpected infant death, known as SUID, includes sudden infant death syndrome, accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, and deaths from unknown causes. The report puts the toll at about 3,400 U.S. infants a year, and the CDC's overview of sudden unexpected infant death counted about 3,700 in 2022. SUID rates fell steeply in the 1990s, from 154.6 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 93.9 in 1999, but progress has stalled, and the rate rose from 92.9 in 2020 to 100.9 in 2022.