The SIDS Center of New Jersey (SCNJ)
Download THE SCNJ'S FREE SAFE SLEEP App!


Established in 1988, the Mission of SCNJ is to:
-
Study the causes and risk factors associated with Sudden Unexpected Infant Death.
-
Develop and offer risk reduction education and resources.
-
Provide bereavement support to grieving families whose infants died suddenly and unexpectedly.
Reducing the Risk of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death
-
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a death in the first 12 months of life for which no cause has been found even after a thorough evaluation. It is one of the leading causes of infant mortality.
-
Although a cause may not yet be detectable, how to reduce the risk of these deaths is known.
-
The guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to reduce the risk of SIDS also reduce the risk of other sleep-related infant deaths such as accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed and ill-defined and unknown causes.
-
Grouped together, these sleep-related infant deaths are called Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID).

-
New Jersey’s rate of SUID is among the lowest in the US
-
The SCNJ collaborates with national and state health, social service, and community programs with the shared public health mission of improving the well-being of New Jersey’s infants.
-
The information presented here is based on the evidence-based risk reduction guidelines of the AAP.
-
Research by the SIDS Center of New Jersey contributed to these guidelines.
SCNJ Statewide Hotline: (800) 545-7437
SCNJ Office: 732-249-2160
The SCNJ operates under a grant from the New Jersey Department of Health and is based at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the HMH Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital