--- title: SIDS May Be Linked to Swaddling, Research Analysis Suggests description: An analysis of data from four studies shows there may be a link between SIDS and wrapping infants in a blanket or cloth canonical: https://time.com/4323042/swaddling-sids-sudden-infant-death/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-09T17:19:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:23:36.864Z article:section: Health og:title: Swaddling May Be Linked to SIDS, New Research Analysis Suggests og:description: Swaddling appeared to increase the risk of SIDS by about one-third, researchers said og:url: https://time.com/4323042/swaddling-sids-sudden-infant-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Swaddling May Be Linked to SIDS, New Research Analysis Suggests twitter:description: Swaddling appeared to increase the risk of SIDS by about one-third, researchers said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Swaddling May Be Linked to SIDS, New Research Analysis Suggests  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian May 9, 2016 5:19 PM UTC  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian May 9, 2016 5:19 PM UTC An [analysis](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/05/05/peds.2015-3275?sso=1&sso%5Fredirect%5Fcount=1&nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token) of data from four studies shows there [may be a link](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/swaddling-may-increase-the-risk-of-sids/) between swaddling infants in a blanket or cloth and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Researchers considered data from [2,519 infants](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/swaddling-babies-is-tied-to-heightened-risk-of-sudden-infant-death-syndrome/2016/05/09/d7a16bbe-12d5-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12%5Fstory.html), which included 760 who died of SIDS. They found that overall, swaddling appeared to increase the risk of SIDS by about one-third, the New York _Times_ reports. The risk of death differed across different sleep positions: swaddling [roughly doubled](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/swaddling-babies-is-tied-to-heightened-risk-of-sudden-infant-death-syndrome/2016/05/09/d7a16bbe-12d5-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12%5Fstory.html) the risk for infants who slept on their stomachs or sides, and slightly increased the risk for infants sleeping on their backs. Lead author Anna S. Pease said the study results should be interpreted tentatively, since having only a handful of studies means evidence about swaddling and baby deaths is limited. \[[_New York Times_](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/swaddling-may-increase-the-risk-of-sids/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4323042/swaddling-sids-sudden-infant-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4323042/swaddling-sids-sudden-infant-death/"},"headline":"Swaddling May Be Linked to SIDS, New Research Analysis Suggests","datePublished":"2016-05-09T17:19:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:23:36.864Z","description":"Swaddling appeared to increase the risk of SIDS by about one-third, researchers said","url":"https://time.com/4323042/swaddling-sids-sudden-infant-death/","keywords":["Research"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4323042/swaddling-sids-sudden-infant-death/","name":"Swaddling May Be Linked to SIDS, New Research Analysis Suggests"}}]}] ```