Investigators say the death of a baby girl Thursday at a Poplar child care center was a case of sudden unexplained infant death, or SUID.
Three-month-old Kassidy Paulsen of Lake Nebagamon was found dead at the Barnyard Buddies Child Care Center when her grandmother arrived to pick her up in the afternoon.
An autopsy was performed Friday in Coon Rapids, Minn.
"At this point (her death) appears to be natural," said Lt. Gary Gulbrandson of the Douglas County Sheriff's Department. "Preliminary indications are it was related to SUIDs." A toxicology screen is still pending.
According to Gulbrandson, such deaths are rare in the county.
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"I don't ever remember having one at a day care before," he said.
While authorities believe the girl died of natural causes, a representative of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families will visit today to investigate circumstances surrounding the infant's death, according to Gulbrandson. A sheriff's department report on the incident was being held pending review by the state representative.
The 3-month-old leaves behind her older brother, older sister and her parents. The family planned to dedicate Kassidy Sunday at Mission Covenant Church in Poplar, the Rev. James Walsh told FOX News. Instead, they held her funeral.
SUIDs/SIDS
Each year, more than 4,500 infants die suddenly of no obvious cause, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About half of these SUIDs are due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is the leading cause of death in infants ages 1-12 months.
There has been a major decrease in SIDS cases since 1992, when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a recommendation that infants be placed on their backs or sides to sleep. The "Back to Sleep" campaign began in 1994. More recently, the AAP no longer recognizes side sleeping as a good alternative.
To protect an infant from SIDS, the CDC gives the following recommendations:
- Infants should always be placed on their backs when they are resting, sleeping or left alone.
- Infants should be placed on their tummies only when they are awake and supervised by someone responsible.
- When infants are napping or sleeping they should be placed in cribs approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
- If you do not have a crib, your infant can be placed to sleep on another safe, firm sleep surface such as a bassinet, cradle, or co-sleeper that does not have any soft or fluffy items on its sleep surface.
- Infants should always be placed on a firm surface or mattress.
- Dress your infant in a sleeper or warm pajama instead of covering infant with a blanket.
- If you choose to cover your infant, always make sure the blanket stays at or lower than the infant's waist.
- Always dress your infant the way that you would want to be dressed for the temperature around you.
- Safest place for an infant to sleep is in their own crib or other separate safe sleep surface next to the parent or caregiver's bed.
- Never place your infant on a sofa, couch, pillow, or waterbed.
- Never place your infant to sleep or to nap with any pillows, stuffed toys, bumper pads, comforters, quilts, or sheepskin.
- Never smoke in the same room as an infant or child.
