There is a scarcity of empirically validated treatments for infants and toddlers under age 3 years with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), as well as a scarcity of empirical investigation into successful intervention characteristics for this population. Yet early screening efforts are focused on identifying autism risk in children under age 3 years.…

Presents risk factors and prevention measures related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Offers infant sleep recommendations and five discussion questions to test knowledge of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (DLH)

This report describes research programs focusing on the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and indicates some presently available results. Specific attention is given to research on sleep apnea, respiratory control, and hypoxia, as well as to infectious disease processes and immunology. Findings of a large-scale multidisciplinary SIDS project are…

Reviews characteristics of victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, based on worldwide statistics and the author's experience as a pathologist at a children's hospital. (SB)

Results support previous findings of interactional differences during early infancy between mother/premature and mother/full-term infant dyads. Preterms performed significantly below full-terms on measures of cognitive and language development corrected for gestational age. (Author/RH)

Reviews three areas of literature on home apnea monitoring for infants: (1) identification of infants at risk, (2)technical aspects of monitoring, and (3) families' responses to monitoring. Outlines areas of controversy, including effect of use of home monitors on parent anxiety. Calls for ongoing education for parents who undertake home…

Examined psychological and social impact of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) on 80 grandmothers and grandfathers. Results of quantitative and qualitative analyses suggest that SIDS for most grandparents is a devastating experience. Common feelings expressed included disbelief, anger, guilt, anxiety, depression, concern for their bereaved adult…

Compares the effectiveness of pacifiers and swaddling in reducing distress resulting from pain in 32 2-week-old infants and 32 2-month-old infants. Pacifiers soothed infants more rapidly and completely than swaddling. (RJC)

This study examined whether 3-15, month-old cosleeping infants displayed differences in time spent in active versus quiet sleep, and in the number/duration of nighttime awakenings when compared with solitary-sleeping infants; and also whether they spent the majority of the night sleeping face-to-face, as previously reported. Nine cosleeping and…

Two experiments were conducted to investigate generalized imitation of manual gestures in 1- to 2-year-old infants. In Experiment 1, 6 infants were first trained four baseline matching relations (e.g., when instructed "Do this," to raise their arms after they saw the experimenter do so). Next, four novel gestures that the infants did not match in…

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the development of sleep-wake and melatonin diurnal rhythms over the first 3 months of life, and the potential effect of bed-sharing on their development. It was hypothesized that increased maternal contact through bed-sharing would affect the development of rhythms in human infants. Ten…

Tomasello, Carpenter, and Liszkowski (2007) present compelling data to support the view that infant pointing, from the outset, is communicative and deployed in many of the same situations in which adults would ordinarily point for one another, either to share their interest in something, or to informatively help the other person. This commentary…

Objective: Although millions of the world's children are growing up amidst armed conflict, little research has described the specific symptom manifestations and relational behavior in young children exposed to wartime trauma or assessed factors that chart pathways of risk and resilience. Method: Participants included 232 Israeli children 1.5 to 5…

Objectives: Determine the prevalence, clinical signs and symptoms, and demographic and family characteristics of children attending a tertiary care hospital in Mexico City, Mexico, to illustrate the characteristics of abusive head trauma among this population. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study of infants and children under 5,…