Now there is another protective strategy for parents to try: breastfeeding. New research studied the association between infant feeding practices and crib death in Germany. The study used a population-based case control study of 333 infants who died from SIDS and 998 age-matched controls that did not. The peak age of the SIDS victims was 2 to 5 months. All cases were evaluated by autopsy. Researchers found that breastfeeding reduced the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by about 50% at all ages throughout infancy.
The investigators found that fewer than 50% of the SIDS cases were breastfed ... while 83% of the same aged controls (living infants) were.