Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Infant Sleep Safety Tips for Parents and Caregivers
A new study shows an alarming increase in infant death statistics that coincide with an increase in the popular practice of sleeping with infants. The study shows there has been a dramatic increase in accidental infant suffocation between 1984 and 2004. According to the results of the study published in Pediatrics in Review, the rate of deaths caused by unintentional suffocation and strangulation for babies quadrupled between 1984 and 2004. This increase in deaths coincided with an increase in parents choosing to bed-share with their infants. Many children’s safety groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Safe Kids Worldwide feel that co-sleeping is not a safe practice.
According to an article in the Washington Post, this study reignites the debate over the rising number of parents who sleep with their babies. Although the study didn’t look at the cause of the increase, the trend coincides with an increase in bed-sharing, which is popular to help mothers bond and breast-feed. Infant suffocation can occur when a sleeping parent rolls on top of a baby, or a pillow falls on the baby’s face, or a blanket gets wrapped around the baby’s neck or the baby gets wedged between the bed and a wall.
Because of these huge increases health care professionals want to get the message to the public that accidental suffocation and strangulation is preventable by providing a safe environment for babies when they sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, who led the study published in the journal Pediatrics.
Although bed-sharing may be due to personal preference, it may also be due to a shortage of beds or the fact that poorer families can’t afford a crib. In the new study, the practice of bed-sharing was more common in the South, among African Americans and Asian Americans, than among whites.
These infant death statistics have worried health care officials who called for increased efforts to discourage parents from sleeping in the same bed with their babies, and educate parents about how to make sure their babies sleep safely.
USA Safe Kids infant sleep safety tips:
- Babies should never sleep on couches, chairs, regular beds or other soft surfaces.
- Babies should never share a bed or couch with a sibling, parent or caregiver.
- Remove pillows, comforters, stuffed toys and other soft products from the crib before putting the baby to sleep.
- Lay babies on their backs, facing up.
- Make sure the baby’s crib has a firm, tight-fitting mattress (no more than two fingers of space between crib and mattress) and that has no plastic wrappings.
- Use tight-fitting bottom sheets that are made for crib mattresses. Don’t use adult sheets.
- Use infant sleepwear or crib-sized blankets tucked under the mattress so they do not reach above the baby’s chest. Don’t use adult-sized blankets.
- Don’t attached pacifiers to strings or ribbons around the baby’s neck or to their clothing.
If your child has been injured or killed in a sleeping accident in Massachusetts, you should contact a Boston child injury lawyer right away.
When selecting a Boston child injury lawyer you’ll want to ask critical questions such as; how long have you been practicing law; do you have experience with infant suffocation cases in Boston, Massachusetts; what is the biggest settlement or verdict you have won?
For over 30 years Kiley Law Group located in Boston and Andover, Massachusetts, has fought on behalf of children. Our child injury lawyers take time when speaking with you about your child’s injuries. Mr. Kiley’s firm works with you on a contingency basis, which means there are NO FEES unless our trained personal injury attorneys win your case. Call now for a FREE legal consultation.
