Duration of Breastfeeding and Risk of SIDS: An Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a leading cause of postneonatal infant mortality. Our previous meta-analyses showed that any breastfeeding is protective against SIDS with exclusive breastfeeding conferring a stronger effect.The duration of breastfeeding required to confer a protective effect is unknown. To assess the associations between breastfeeding duration and SIDS. Individual-level data from 8 case-control studies. Case-control SIDS studies with breastfeeding data. Breastfeeding variables, demographic factors, and other potential confounders were identified. Individual-study and pooled analyses were performed. A total of 2267 SIDS cases and 6837 control infants were included. In multivariable pooled analysis, breastfeeding for 6 months: aOR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.22-0.61). Although exclusive breastfeeding for