Jogging 4 Jaden

With September peering its head out from around the corner, we’re all looking forward to a fun Fall — filled with activities and excitement. Without a doubt, our most exciting event on the calendar right now is the CJ Strides for Babies “walk event” we will be hosting in 3 locations (NJ, NY, MD) just a few weeks from now. As the event nears, many of our sponsored walkers are wondering how best they can raise funds for their teams to meet and even surpass their donation goals. We’ve fielded so many inquiries into this matter that we thought it might be helpful to get some extra special input. So we asked NJ Marathon runner Aliyah Cox, who successfully raised over $6,000 for her baby Jaden in May 2009, if she wouldn’t mind writing us a small piece for us to pass on to our registrants. This was her response:

New Legislation Benefits SUID/Stillbirth Prevention Efforts

In an exciting move in Washington this week, a new Bill known as The Stillbirth and SUID Prevention, Education, and Awareness Act was introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. Serving as the most influential piece of SIDS/SUID/SUDC legislation to date, the Bill promises to promote unprecedented, positive change by improving death-scene data collection methods, establishing nationwide awareness and education plans, and expanding support services for families in need. As you can imagine, we’re extremely thrilled to see this kind of representation on the Congressional floor. We’re doing everything we can to affirm our support for the Bill and if you’re a reader of this Blog, we urge you to do the same! We’ve taken the liberty of compiling a few useful links for you below so read up, find your state’s representatives, and tell them to pass The Stillbirth and SUID Prevention, Education, and Awareness Act!

Official Press Release
Bill Fact Sheet
Write Your Rep! — contact your House Representative
Find Your Senator — online directory of all US Senators

SIDS Tied to Metabolic Disorders

The Biochemical Genetics Program at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s hospital is spearheading a new effort by the state of New York to properly identify and treat metabolic disorders in newborn children. Affecting roughly 1 out of every 3000 children born, metabolic disorders prevent the proper absorption of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, leading to very severe and possibly fatal conditions. In years past, testing for these disorders was largely overlooked (due to unavailability or expense) and as a result, associated newborn fatalities were often reported as SIDS cases. With the law on its side (the state of New York is now mandating newborn screening), the NYPMS Children’s Hospital and its partners at Columbia University Medical Center hope to de-mystify the disorders by providing accurate diagnoses and offering comprehensive treatment options. This is most certainly an encouraging step in the right direction.

Mysterious Ailments May Be the Result of Undiagnosed Genetic Defects @ Columbia.edu

Transparency = Trust

We often talk about the importance of donations to our organization and how without them, we could never wish to accomplish the goals we have set out to achieve. And while we do report on the findings of research funded by those donations and the success(es) of various initiatives there-in, we don’t often give line-by-line announcements of how every dollar was spent (because, well, finances are boring). Despite the lack of discussion however, you may be surprised to find that financial transparency is something we take very seriously at the CJ Foundation for SIDS and has been a longstanding tradition in our operations. We always work hard to make as much information available as possible to anyone who comes looking for it and we tend to think we’ve done pretty well. Apparently, we’ve been doing even better than we thought!

A(nother) Warning on Co-Sleeping

Daily Mail, a British publication, has published an article discussing a recent statement from United Kingdom coroners, pathologists, and SIDS researchers that warns of the dangers of co-sleeping. Citing findings from a small number of studies, the researchers attribute as many as 50% of all investigated SIDS cases to co-sleeping situations. We don’t normally report on articles that are from a less-than-scientific source when it comes to parenting recommendations but we’ve chosen this article because it touches on a familiar topic in its third paragraph.

“But their guidance is likely to anger some parents who argue that sharing a bed strengthens bonds, promotes breastfeeding and is part of child-rearing in some cultures.”

It seems that in England as well as the USA, parents are seeing safety recommendations as direct insults to their personal integrity. We know we just got through posting about our stance regarding this type of angered response but this international example seems to add a sense of urgency to the issue. It’s important that you know our recommendations are based on research and given with the intent of reducing the risk for SIDS. If we didn’t think our advice was in the best interest of you and your child’s safety, we would not be giving it.

Co-Sleeping Article @ Daily Mail