Dedicated To The Memory of

Tyler Albert Mattson

I include this page as a memorial to my nephew who died on May 29, 1996. He was four months and twenty-one days old. His death was classified as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Each year SIDS claims about 3000 babies, more than any one other factor. SIDS is not a disease, and unlike a disease, SIDS can not be predicted, nor necessarily prevented. SIDS is absolutely not caused by abusive parents nor neglectful parents. According to a recent research, babies who sleep on their stomachs are the most vulnerable and recent back sleeping campaigns have reduced the number of annual SIDS deaths. A leading theory for the cause of SIDS is that it involved subtle brain stem abnormalities that block normal reflexes. However, I am not an expert on the subject, I only know what I have picked up in the time since Tyler's death. To find out more about current research and what you can do to help, follow these links:

SIDS Stamp Effort

There is a group trying to get the post office to issue a SIDS research stamp. This stamp would be similar to the breast cancer, where the cost is a few cents above the standard rate for first class mail, and all those extra cents will go directly to SIDS research. This is a worthy cause, and if you can take a few minutes to write a letter, my family and I would thank you. To see details of how to address the letter and where to send it, check out the A SIDS Stamp? page. Feel free to read the text of my letter for inspiration. (Please note that the group is asking that you not send the letter directly to the post office. This might trigger a premature investigation into the stamp by the post office, which, if rejected, would cause a year-long wait to review the stamp again. Instead, the group is trying to collect a mountain of letters to send all at once to the post office.)

SIDS-Related Links

Last Modified: 07 April 2004