Editor,—There cannot be many paediatricians who are unaware that infanticide may pose as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); therefore, one must question the wisdom of Professor Meadow1 in deciding not to let this sleeping dog lie, in the interests of ordinary parents induced by media coverage not only to worry about whether their sleeping babies will ever wake up but whether in that case they could be accused of murder. However, he does make an important point, and that is the desirability of postmortem examinations in such cases being carried out by experienced paediatric pathologists—a threatened species. It is regrettable that when in response to public concern about cot death the Medical Research Council considered establishing a Chair in this branch of pathology, they were dissuaded by the then President of the College of Pathologists. Fortunately the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths stepped into the breach, but it is anomalous that postmortem examinations in babies are still being carried out by general pathologists. In my view, the exposure of infanticide is less important than continuing research into other causes of sudden infant death; so far very successful in reducing the incidence to half of what it used to be as well as contributing to knowledge in other ways.