Infant Deaths

My thanks to The Times in general and to Ben Sullivan specifically for the article on sudden infant death syndrome (Science/Medicine, Oct. 2). Usually stories about SIDS are relegated to “fillers” in newspapers and magazines, even though it is, as Sullivan’s story points out, the leading cause of death in children under the age of 1 year.

Having lost a beloved son four years ago to SIDS (he was 3 months old), part of the mourning process has been dealing with the fact that there are no answers . . . no reasons to point to concerning his death. There is quite a bit of misinformation about SIDS and I commend Sullivan for his accuracy in discussing this illusive killer.

Losing a child under any circumstances is devastating; losing an apparently healthy infant while sleeping peacefully is soul-numbing.

Thank you again for portraying sudden infant death syndrome with such accuracy and for including important current scientific facts.

NANCY AMODT ECKERT

Mission Viejo