From 2019-2023, 208 sleep-related infant deaths occurred in Cook County. These deaths happen among Black and Hispanic infants at higher rates than among white infants. This webpage details Cook County’s sleep-related infant death data to inform communities, providers and families of this public health threat to infants and to encourage prevention strategies.
In Cook County today, the greatest threat to the lives of infants is sleep-related infant death.
Sleep-Related
Infant Death
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Cook County, Illinois
What is Sudden Unexpected Infant Death?
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2022
2021
2019
2019 - 2023
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Sleep-Related Infant Deaths
Legend
Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID)
is the leading threat to life between 1 month and 1 year old. These deaths used to be called SIDS.
SUID almost always happen during sleep and include deaths due to:
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Accidental suffocation in a sleeping environment
Other deaths from unknown causes
When infants are placed on their side or stomach to sleep, their nose and mouth can get blocked more easily. Placing infants on their back to sleep has been the cornerstone of preventing sleep-related infant death since 1994.
On their back
An infant sleeping safely is defined as:
Safe sleep to prevent suffocation
Hover to learn more
Sleeping with another person and sleeping on adult beds or couches are situations that can become hazardous and are risks associated with
sleep-related infant death.
In their own crib or bassinet
No pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, blankets, bumper pads, plush toys or stuffed animals should be in the crib or bassinet, as these can block an infant's airway during sleep.
With nothing in the crib or bassinet
Preventing SUID starts with information sharing and collaborating with communities that hold a disproportionate burden of SUID. Continuing the work of the Cook County SUID Case Registry is an important step in identifying, collecting and analyzing SUID data. Communicating this data in partnership with public health departments, health care entities, community organizations and other networks, will be essential to enabling collaboration with communities in efforts toward prevention. By initiating dialogue with families and those who support them, we can gain a deeper understanding of the circumstances within our communities and can help create better pathways to prevention efforts.
Partnering for prevention
Rush University Medical Center
These deaths occur about once a week and are almost always related to an unsafe sleep situation.
In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began funding work across the U.S. to collect detailed information on the circumstances of these deaths to help prevent them. In 2019, this work began in Cook County, and this report details Cook County’s 2019 to 2023 sleep-related infant deaths to inform communities, providers and families of this public health threat to infants and to encourage potential prevention strategies.
View the full report
2019-2023 report
Soft bedding
Non-crib sleeping
Hazarous products
Stomach sleeping
Unsafe sleep factors
42%
Between 2019 to 2023, infants were found in these locations: adult beds (140), couch or futon (18), inclined products (4), carseats (3), other (10)
88 of 208 infants were found on their stomach or side in their sleep space.
Stomach sleeping
In Cook County, sleep-related infant death occurred 14 times more often in Black infants, and 2.3 times more often in Hispanic infants when compared with white infants.
Soft bedding
190 of 208 infants were found with soft bedding in their sleep space.
93%
Non-crib sleeping
175 of 208 infants were found in places NOT approved for infant sleep.
84%
Bed-sharing
135 of 208 infants were sleeping with another person, increasing their risk of suffocation.
66%
Nationally, SUID occurs more than three times as often among Black infants, and less often among Hispanic infants, as compared to white infants.
Sleep-related infant death disparities
Cook County
Sleep-related infant death rate
per 100,000 births
Hispanic
Black*
White*
Preventing SUID starts with information sharing and collaborating with communities that hold a disproportionate burden of SUID. Continuing the work of the Cook County SUID Case Registry is an important step in identifying, collecting and analyzing SUID data. Communicating this data in partnership with public health departments, health care entities, community organizations and other networks, will be essential to enabling collaboration with communities in efforts towards prevention. By initiating dialogue with families and those who support them, we can gain a deeper understanding of the circumstances within our communities, and can help create better pathways to prevention efforts.
Preventing SUID starts with information sharing and collaborating with communities that hold a disproportionate burden of SUID. Continuing the work of the Cook County SUID Case Registry is an important step in identifying, collecting and analyzing SUID data. Communicating this data in partnership with public health departments, health care entities, community organizations and other networks, will be essential to enabling collaboration with communities in efforts towards prevention. By initiating dialogue with families and those who support them, we can gain a deeper understanding of the circumstances within our communities, and can help create better pathways to prevention efforts.
Everthrive Illinois is a champion for health equity, focused on advocating for access to high-quality health care for women, children and families in Illinois. Through campaigns, strategic partnerships and community engagement, Everthrive continues to advance maternal-infant health equity. everthriveil.org
Family Connects Chicago is a public health, nurse home visit service available to Chicago families with newborns. Currently in its pilot phase, Family Connects led by the Chicago Department of Public Health, provides a comprehensive spectrum of in-home support, guidance and connections to resources that offer family support inclusive of safe sleep guidance. healthychicagobabies.org/family-connects/
The Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) study in Chicago is a community-based approach to identifying services and support system issues families experienced that may have contributed to fetal and infant losses. FIMR interviews families who have lost an infant, analyzes those experiences, and makes system recommendations to promote better outcomes in the future. FIMR’s Interdisciplinary Community Action Team works to create meaningful change by addressing gaps in services and programs, and advocates for supportive policies. ncfrp.org/fimr/
HealthConnect One advances equitable, community-based, peer-to-peer support for pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and early parenting. They provide breastfeeding peer counselors and community based doula support — promoting protective factors for healthy babies and families. healthconnectone.org
Kids In Danger (KID) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children by fighting for product safety. KID was founded in 1998 by the parents of 16-month-old Danny Keysar, who died when a recalled portable crib collapsed around his neck in his Chicago child care home. KID’s mission is to save lives by enhancing transparency and accountability through safer product development, better education and stronger advocacy for children. KID disseminates its monthly recall digest to share accurate and timely child product recall information. kidsindanger.org
The Fussy Baby Network provides in-home or virtual support from infants specialists, who support families struggling with infant crying, feeding and sleeping. erikson.edu/services/fussy-baby-network/
Westside Healthy Start program at ACCESS supports families from Chicago’s West Side neighborhoods of North Lawndale, Austin, Humboldt Park, East and West Garfield Park, providing expecting and parenting families with preconception, prenatal and postpartum services to improve the health outcomes of the mother, baby and family. With the support of a dedicated care team, they partner with community members to reduce the infant mortality rate and empower families to create stronger, healthier communities. achn.net/services-programs/westside-healthy-start/
Hispanic
Black*
White*
United States
Sleep-related infant death rate
per 100,000 births
42
246
18
59
243
77
* Non-Hispanic
* Non-Hispanic
2019 report
Archive
2020-21 report
2022 report
Preventing SUID starts with information sharing and collaborating with communities that hold a disproportionate burden of SUID. Continuing the work of the Cook County SUID Case Registry is an important step in identifying, collecting and analyzing SUID data. Communicating this data in partnership with public health departments, health care entities, community organizations and other networks, will be essential to enabling collaboration with communities in efforts towards prevention. By initiating dialogue with families and those who support them, we can gain a deeper understanding of the circumstances within our communities, and can help create better pathways to prevention efforts.
Full report
Preventing sleep-related infant death starts with sharing what we've learned
Chicago Resources
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Chicago Resources
Regional Resources
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Regional Resources
National Resources
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National Resources
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CPASS Chicago joins trusted community partners to share safe sleep guidance and resources at fairs, events, parent groups and more. If you would like CPASS Chicago to join an event in your community or to inquire about our safe sleep training for staff, please contact our Prevention Coordinator Felicia Clark at feliciaclark798@yahoo.com.
Chicago Resources
Westside Healthy Start program
The Fetal Infant Mortality Review
Family Connects Chicago
CPASS Chicago
The Fussy Baby Network
The Fussy Baby Network
Lurie Children’s Hospital Safe Sleep Program
Learn more
Westside Healthy Start program at ACCESS supports families from Chicago’s West Side neighborhoods of North Lawndale, Austin, Humboldt Park, East and West Garfield Park. The program provides expecting and parenting families with preconception, prenatal and postpartum services to improve the health outcomes of the mother, baby and family. With the support of a dedicated care team, they partner with community members to reduce the infant mortality rate and empower families to create stronger, healthier communities.
Learn more
The Fussy Baby Network provides in-home or virtual support from infant developmental specialists, who support families struggling with infant crying, feeding and sleeping.
Learn more
The Fussy Baby Network provides in-home or virtual support from infant developmental specialists, who support families struggling with infant crying, feeding and sleeping.
Learn more
Lurie Children’s Hospital Safe Sleep Program places a strong emphasis on individual education and offers a Safe Sleep Ambassador training for laypeople and partners on the impact of unsafe sleep practices in our Chicago community. During the training, ambassadors are educated on the risks associated with unsafe sleep practices, recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and how to build trust to deliver the message to families. For more information contact Dominique Johnson at djohnson@luriechildrens.org.
Learn more
The Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) study in Chicago is a community-based approach to identifying services and support system issues families experienced that may have contributed to fetal and infant losses. In addition to ensuring family access to grief and bereavement services, FIMR Chicago interviews families who have lost an infant, analyzes those experiences, and makes system recommendations to promote better outcomes in the future. FIMR’s Interdisciplinary Community Action Team works to create meaningful change by addressing gaps in services and programs, and advocates for supportive policies.
Learn more
Family Connects Chicago is a public health, nurse home visit service available to Chicago families with newborns. Currently in its final phase of expansion, Family Connects Chicago is led by the Chicago Department of Public Health in partnership with Chicago birthing hospitals and Regional Alignment Boards anchored at Everthrive IL, Sinai Community Institute, Sinai Urban Health Institute and Metropolitan Family Services to provide a comprehensive spectrum of in-home support, guidance and connections to resources that offer family support inclusive of safe sleep guidance and resource support.
“I was definitely one of the people that thought it could not happen,
until it happened to me." — A mother from the West Side of Chicago.
2019-2023
Learn more
Find education resources and campaign materials at this National Institutes of Health web resource for organizations.
Learn more
Healthychildren.org: Find information on your infant’s sleep concerns from this American Academy of Pediatrics web resource.
Learn more
Cribs for Kids: Find cribettes and safe sleep education resources for families in your communities, as well as information on how to become a safe sleep champion at this resource for health care and community providers.
Learn more
Charlie’s Kids Foundation, established on what would have been Charlie Hanke’s first birthday, honors his memory and prevents other parents from experiencing sleep-related infant death loss. The foundation combines medical expertise and personal experience to educate parents and the medical community about safe sleep practices. It offers simple, short videos in English and Spanish that explain safe sleep for babies.
Learn more
AAP Safe Sleep Toolkit
Safe to Sleep
Healthychildren.org
Cribs for Kids
Charlie’s Kids Foundation
American Academy of Pediatrics
National Resources
Learn more
SIDS of Illinois, Inc., is committed to helping Illinois families who have lost a baby under the age of 1 year, regardless of cause or manner of death, as well as providing gentle, culturally appropriate, and accessible safe sleep education to all families to lower sleep related deaths in Illinois.
Learn more
Illinois’ Home Visiting programs support healthy, thriving pregnant and parenting families with young children through support services that include parent coaching, education and connections to infant and early childhood health and early learning resources. Home Visiting programs routinely incorporate safe sleep education for families with infants, and the Illinois Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting program has supported infant safe sleep through the development and tracking of safe sleep benchmarks since 2018.
SIDS of Illinois
iGrow
Regional Resources
Safe sleep video
This year's data has not been finalized at the moment. Please check back later.
2020/2021
report
coming soon.
Learn more
total from 2019 to 2023.
208
Each circle represents
a sleep-related infant death.
© Copyright 2025, Rush University System for Health
Contact us
For more information, please email Rojin Ahadi, MPH
Thirty-seven sleep related infant deaths occurred among infants with a history of tobacco smoke exposure.
18%
Fifty-six sleep-related infant deaths occurred among infants who were born prematurely.
One in 183 preterm Black infants died of sleep-related infant death.
27%
Illinois Safe Sleep Support
Learn more
Illinois Safe Sleep Support is a program for families in Illinois to learn about the safest ways for their babies to sleep, get answers to their sleep safety questions and access to items they need to keep their babies safe.
Risk factors
Prematurity and tobacco smoke exposure are known risk factors for sleep-related infant death.
(2020-2021, Cook County)
Nearly all 208 sleep-related infant deaths occurred in an unsafe sleep environment.
And 27% (or 56) of these sleep-related infants deaths were due to accidental suffocation.
99%
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These deaths occur about once a week and are almost always related to an unsafe sleep situation.
Fifteen SUIDs occurred among infants who had prenatal and/or current smoke exposure.
33%
Nine SUIDs occurred among infants who were born prematurely.
20%
Prematurity and tobacco smoke exposure increase the risk of SUID.
Risk factors
* Non-Hispanic
Hispanic
Black*
White*
58
209
72
SUID rate per 100,000 births
United States
* Non-Hispanic
Hispanic
Black*
White*
54
228
14
SUID rate per 100,000 births
Cook County
In Cook County, SUID occurred 16 times more often in Black infants, and nearly 4 times more often in Hispanic infants when compared with white infants.
Nationally, SUID occurs more than twice as often among Black, non-Hispanic infants, and about half as often among Hispanic infants, as compared to white, non-Hispanic infants.
Sleep-related SUID disparities
2019
2020-21 report
Sudden Unexpected Infants Deaths
RUSH University Medical Center
Legend
2022
2021
2020
2019
This year's data has not been finalized at the moment. Please check back later.
2020/2021
report
coming soon.
Learn more
total in 2019
49
Each square represents a sudden unexpected infant death (SUID).
In 2022, the Cook County SUID Case Registry team established Community Partnership Approaches for Safe Sleep — Chicago, or CPASS Chicago, as its prevention arm.
Housed at Rush University Children’s Hospital, CPASS Chicago connects with families in their communities and starts conversations about sleep-related infant death and safe sleep with parents and those who support them. Under the leadership of Felicia Clark, a former infant death scene investigator for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, CPASS Chicago creates a safe place for open discussions about the barriers to safe sleep, including the real and often challenging circumstances that affect families every day. At community baby showers, resource fairs, neighborhood events and more, the CPASS team listens and educates about sleep-related infant death in communities, empowering parents to lead the way to safer sleep.
Our partners are Family Focus, Chicago Birthworks Collective, Proviso Township Ministerial Alliance Network and Sinai Community Institute.
If you would like CPASS Chicago to join an event in your community, please contact Felicia Clark at feliciaclark798@yahoo.com.
Contact
Contact
Sixty-six sleep-related infant deaths occurred among infants who had a history of a NICU stay.
32%
Sixty-six sleep-related infant deaths occurred among infants who had a history of a NICU stay.
32%
Thirty-seven sleep related infant deaths occurred among infants who had prenatal and/or current smoke exposure.
32%
2019 report
Soft bedding includes pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, blankets, bumper pads, plush toys or stuffed animals.
In 2022, the Cook County SUID Case Registry team established Community Partnership Approaches for Safe Sleep — Chicago, or CPASS Chicago, as its prevention arm. Housed at Rush University Children’s Hospital, CPASS Chicago connects with families in their communities and starts conversations about sleep-related infant death and safe sleep with parents and those who support them.
Under the leadership of Felicia Clark, a former infant death scene investigator for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, CPASS Chicago creates a safe place for open discussions about the barriers to safe sleep, including the real and often challenging circumstances that affect families every day.
At community baby showers, resource fairs, neighborhood events and more, the CPASS team listens and educates about sleep-related infant death in communities, empowering parents to lead the way to safer sleep.
Partnering with Family Focus, Chicago Birthworks Collective, Proviso Township Ministerial Alliance Network and Sinai Community Institute, CPASS Chicago shares, learns and strengthens its collective approach to engaging, equipping and empowering families to protect their infants during this most joyful yet stressful and vulnerable age. The partner groups join in each other’s gatherings and events with a common goal: to promote the positive and protective influences our partners provide among our families and communities. The partners raise awareness about the steps families and those who support them can take to prevent sleep-related infant death. The more we talk about it, the more we learn about it, which in turn unlocks new approaches to prevent sleep-related infant death.
If you would like CPASS Chicago to join an event in your community, provide parent education groups, or provide safe sleep staff training for your organization, please contact our prevention coordinator Felicia Clark at feliciaclark798@yahoo.com.
Community Partnership Approaches for Safe Sleep — Chicago (CPASS Chicago) starts conversations about SUID and safe sleep with parents and those who support them. We create a safe place to openly talk about what gets in the way of safe sleep — the real circumstances that affect families every day. We listen and share what we know about SUID in our communities, empowering parents to lead the way to safer sleep. CPASS Chicago is the prevention arm of the Cook County SUID Case Registry and is housed at RUSH University Children's Hospital. Our partners are Family Focus, Chicago Birthworks Collective, Proviso Township Ministerial Alliance Network and Sinai Community Institute. We share a desire to help raise awareness about SUID. We believe that the more we talk about it, the more we learn about it and unlock new ways to prevent SUID.
CPASS Chicago joins trusted community partners to share safe sleep guidance and resources at fairs, events, parent groups and more. If you would like CPASS Chicago to join an event in your community, please contact our prevention coordinator Felicia Clark at feliciaclark798@yahoo.com.
Learn more
7/7
6/7
Make a gift
For more information, please email Rojin Ahadi, MPH
Bed-sharing
Soft bedding
placeholder
6 infant deaths occurred in “baby loungers”
93%
CPASS Chicago joins trusted community partners to share safe sleep guidance and resources at fairs, events, parent groups and more. If you would like CPASS Chicago to join an event in your community or to inquire about our safe sleep training for staff, please contact our Prevention Coordinator Felicia Clark at feliciaclark798@yahoo.com.
Learn more
Lurie Children’s Hospital Safe Sleep Program places a strong emphasis on individual education and offers a Safe Sleep Ambassador training for laypeople and partners on the impact of unsafe sleep practices in our Chicago community. During the training, ambassadors are educated on the risks associated with unsafe sleep practices, recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and how to build trust to deliver the message to families. For more information contact Dominique Johnson at djohnson@luriechildrens.org.
5 infant deaths occurred in U-shaped nursing pillows when used for propping up infants for sleep
American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement: Find the latest recommendations for infant sleep from the AAP’s Task Force on SIDS.
Learn more
safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov/
Learn more
AAP policy statement:
Make a gift
Make a gift
Bed-sharing
135 of 208 infants were sleeping with another person, increasing their risk of suffocation.
66%
Stomach sleeping
Twenty-one of 96 infants were found on their stomach in their sleep space.
42%
Soft bedding
190 of 208 infants were found with soft bedding in their sleep space.
93%
Non-crib sleeping
175 of 208 infants were found in places NOT approved for infant sleep.
84%
Between 2019 to 2023, infants were found in these locations: adult beds (140), couch or futon (18), inclined products (4), carseats (3), other (10)
Bed sharing
Stomach sleeping
Soft bedding
Non-crib sleeping
(2020-2021, Cook County)
Nearly all 208 sleep-related infant deaths occurred in an unsafe sleep environment.
And 27% (or 56) of these sleep-related infants deaths were due to accidental suffocation.
99%
Unsafe sleep factors
6 infant deaths occurred in “baby loungers”
Hazardous products
5 infant deaths occurred in U-shaped nursing pillows when used for propping up infants for sleep