Suffolk infant deaths linked to unsafe sleep practices prompt child safety review plan

Suffolk County officials, troubled by the alarming number of infants whose deaths could be linked to unsafe sleeping practices, said Tuesday they will increase efforts to educate the public and take a tougher look at all child fatalities.

County Executive Edward P. Romaine told reporters at a news conference he noticed the concerning trend while reviewing child fatality reports from recent years. He plans to activate a child fatality review team in the coming weeks to examine and issue a report for each death.

In two of the cases, an infant suffocated after the mother fell asleep while nursing. In other situations, the baby was sleeping with their parents and got wedged in the space between the bed and the wall.

Romaine said when a young child dies, "it’s a matter of profound sadness" and in some of these cases, it can be prevented.

"The idea of your own child accidentally being affected by this is something that deeply troubles me," he said.

Unsafe sleep environments cover a range of situations including parents sharing their bed with an infant and babies placed in cribs with blankets, stuffed animals and pillows.

"The baby should sleep alone," said Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott. "The baby should sleep on his or her back and they should sleep in their own environment."

He said the county works with numerous groups to educate parents and clinicians and provide safe cribs to those in need. Romaine said they plan to step up those efforts.

"Over the last four years, up to 50% of our infant deaths below the age of 2 were associated with an unsafe sleep environment," said Dr. Odette Hall, Suffolk County’s chief medical examiner. "Even if the ultimate cause of death was determined to be a natural event, something wrong with their heart, something wrong with their brain, they were still found in an unsafe sleep environment."

In Suffolk County during 2021, there were 14 deaths of children under the age of 2 and seven of them were in unsafe sleep situations, according to Hall. In 2022, there were 11 deaths, five associated with unsafe sleep and one definitely linked to unsafe sleep, she said. In 2023, there were 17 deaths and eight were in unsafe sleep environments; in 2024 there were 10 deaths, eight in unsafe sleep environments and one confirmed from unsafe sleep practices.

The rate of infants who die annually from sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID) — a term that covers several causes of infant death — declined in the 1990s, was steady in the early 2000s but increased about 12% between 2020 and 2022, according to a recent study in JAMA Pediatrics.

Nassau County Health Department officials said Tuesday they could not provide statistics on deaths of children under the age of 2. They said they also have education programs for new parents that emphasize the importance of safe sleep.

Dr. Matthew Harris, a pediatric emergency medical physician at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, said in a phone interview he has seen numerous cases of children brought into the emergency room with serious injuries due to unsafe sleeping practices.

"We have kids come in several times in a year in cardiac arrest because they fell asleep in a bed with a parent who rolled over or they are on a soft bed and roll over on their stomach," he said. "They can’t lift their neck. We also see kids who suffocate because of crib guards."

Harris said while he hasn’t seen an increase in the number of incidents, just the fact that they continue to occur means there needs to be better communication among the medical community and patients.

"This highlights that new parents need support from pediatricians, from family members and from the community," he said. "This needs to be discussed before a child is born because these [incidents] are essentially preventable."

Sleep safety is a major topic during the tummy time classes at the Nesting Place in Farmingdale.

Mom Sherene Mangles, of Islip, uses a camera with an oxygen monitor on baby Lana. But sometimes even that's not enough.

"Last night even though she slept until 4 o’clock in the morning still my husband and I got up at 2 o’clock to check on her and she was fine, but it is a concern," she said.

With Shari Einhorn

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.