Cribs for Kids

Sleep safely, baby

Heather — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:03:13 +0000

Officials hope to prevent deaths

April 13, 2012

By ALYSSA MURPHY (amurphy@sungazette.com) , Williamsport Sun-Gazette

“Back is best.”

Those were the words spoken by Eileen M. Carlins about how to let children sleep, during a symposium Thursday morning at Pennsylvania College of Technology. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of death in infants from a month to a year of age.

“There is so much we know today that we didn’t know years ago,” said Carlins, director of support and education for SIDS of Pennsylvania.

In 1994, the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on SIDS started the “Back to Sleep” campaign, encouraging people to rest babies on their backs.

The SIDS rate in the nation halved by 1999, Carlins said.

Some parents lay their children on their stomachs because they say the infants sleep better that way, said Dr. Michael Goodstein, attending neonatologist at York Hospital and director of York County Cribs for Kids.

“Some babies will sleep themselves to death,” said Goodstein, the medical director for Cribs for Kids National Infant Safe Sleep Initiative.

Babies who sleep on their stomachs are less reactive to noise, experience sudden decreases in blood pressure and heart rate control, experience less movement, have higher arousal thresholds and have longer periods of deep sleep – all of which are risk factors for SIDS, he said.

He also has had people tell him that they let their child sleep on their stomachs so they don’t choke.

“You may swallow some spit-up, but it’s OK,” Goodstein said.

Bedsharing, when an infant sleeps with parents or siblings, also is not recommended.

One of the examples Goodstein provided was of a 10-year-old girl who heard her infant sibling crying. Their mother was asleep, so the older girl soothed the infant and then put her sibling in bed with her. The eldest child rolled over and suffocated her sibling.

SIDS victims were 5.4 times more likely to have shared a bed with other children, he said, citing a Chicago Infant Mortality Study done in May 2003.

He heard mothers say they know where their babies are when they’re asleep and would never crush them. Yet he has seen cases where parents shifted in their sleep.

“There is enough weight in a human arm to suffocate a baby,” he said.

Goodstein said that an unsafe sleeping environment includes soft bedding, pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, stuffed animals, toys and bumpers.

Any place other than the baby’s crib, such as a sofa, recliner, rocking chair or an adult bed, can be dangerous because an infant could become trapped, wedged, injured, rolled on or suffocated.

What he did recommend, instead of bedsharing, is roomsharing, which means placing the crib in the parents’ room, near the bed.

Roomsharing solves two problems he hears about.

Some women want to share a bed with their babies so they can breastfeed easier. Instead, he recommends breastfeeding and then putting the baby back in the nearby crib.

“While bedsharing may facilitate breastfeeding, it is not essential for successful breastfeeding,” Goodstein said.

Some parents want to sleep with their children as a way to protect them from bullets if they live in an unsafe neighborhood. One way to get around that is to place the adult bed closer to the bed and the crib on the other side of the bed.

Almost consistently from 1990 to 2005, the state has had higher infant mortality rates than the country.

“This is a silent epidemic,” Goodstein said. “No one’s talking for these babies.”

Cribs for Kids, a national infant safe sleep education and crib distribution program, began in Pittsburgh in November 1998 after Judith A. Bannon, executive director for the organization, heard that three of the five SIDS deaths that summer resulted when parents slept with their children because there was no crib available.

“We need to give these people cribs,” she said.

At first, 72 women called in about needing cribs and the calls continued. With the cribs – and later the cheaper but effective Pack N Plays – came education about how children should sleep.

Cribs for Kids has been credited with a 50 percent drop in SIDS and sleep-related deaths in Allegheny County since 1998.

County Coroner Charles Kiessling has seen different scenarios when he gets called for an infant death. He showed pictures of a bed with ruffled sheets and numerous pillows, where a bottle was tucked in to the pillows, signifying it was where the baby was. The crib sat nearby.

“People will put babies down just about anywhere and, unfortunately, babies will die just about anywhere,” he said.

Having to tell parents the reason their baby died is because they slept in bed with it, or due to another preventable cause, is “the very worst.”

“I never want to do that again,” Kiessling said.

From 2000 to 2005, 29 teenagers were killed in motor vehicle crashes in the county. As a way to raise awareness in schools, posters were designed and distributed with pictures of the teens who died and where they were from.

Since then, there have been 12 teenage fatalities, he said.

With awareness, “hopefully, infant deaths will go down, too,” Kiessling said.

Link to Original Story: http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/576969/Sleep-safely–baby.html

Caught on Tape – Mom sleeps with her baby

Heather — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:26:22 +0000

RETHINK YOUR POSITION!!

City of Milwaukee Health Department/Serve co-sleep campaign PSA

Infant Dies After Sleeping in Bed

Heather — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:55:44 +0000

TOLEDO, OH — Authorities Friday were investigating the death of a 6-week-old girl who died while sleeping in the same bed as her parents.

Kira Thomas was declared dead at the home where she lived with her parents in the 3800 block of Drexel Drive in West Toledo, according to a Toledo police incident report.

The report, which has few details, says the baby was sleeping in her parents’ bed Thursday.

The girls’ parents are Lea Wuellner and Donald Thomas, ages not listed.

An autopsy on the infant was completed Friday by Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett, deputy coroner. She said she is awaiting test results before making a ruling on the cause of death, but she doesn’t suspect foul play.

Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said the investigation is pending the coroner’s ruling.

Nationally, there is debate concerning the dangers of bed-sharing because of similar deaths of infants.

New parents are advised not to allow infants to sleep with them, said Dr. Jon Nicholson, a pediatrician at Mercy Children’s Hospital. “The problem with bed-sharing is that parents sleep so deeply … the baby isn’t strong enough to move its head or make a motion that would wake up an adult,” Dr. Nicholson said. “It doesn’t take any force at all.”

He said bed-sharing, along with smoking and allowing a baby to sleep face down, are leading causes of sudden infant death syndrome.

“Unfortunately, some people feel it’s better to breast-feed if the baby is right there in bed with the parents,” Dr. Nicholson said.

“The nurses on the labor and delivery floor go though a whole laundry list [and] … we actually have [parents] sign a piece of paper to reduce the risk of SIDS, and one is ‘don’t bed-share.’ ”

Judith Bannon, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based organization Cribs for Kids, said the number of baby deaths from bed-sharing is rising despite all the precautions.

“We do have factions out there who argue in favor of bed-sharing … people [who say] ‘because the animals have done this for years, people should do it,’ ” Ms. Bannon said.

“It is dangerous because you are putting a baby in a situation with soft bedding, human beings who are 98.6 degrees, so even if the baby isn’t smothered, they can still breathe into a blanket or a quilt, and as they breathe in carbon dioxide, they slowly die in their sleep.”

She said the safest place for a baby is in a crib without “bumpers.”

“In Pittsburgh, where we get all of our referrals from the medical examiner’s office, it has been eight years since we had a baby die of SIDS that was not in a bed or on a couch with an adult.”

Original Article From the Toledo Blade: http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/03/09/Infant-dies-after-sleeping-in-bed.html

UnitedHealth Foundation gives $50,000 to city’s Cribs for Kids program

Heather — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:58:18 +0000

Feb. 9, 2012 10:30 a.m.

A $50,000 grant from the UnitedHealth Foundation to the city of Milwaukee’s Cribs for Kids program over the next year will help the city provide free portable cribs to families that cannot afford them, and help raise awareness of safe sleep practices.

The grant is to be announced during a 10:30 a.m. press conference at the Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Road, one of three locations where referrals, education and distribution of the portable cribs are administered.

The Cribs for Kids program provides families with portable Pack ‘n Play cribs to help reduce deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and unsafe sleep. Pack ‘n Plays are provided to families who are unable to purchase one, and who are in their last four weeks of pregnancy or who have an infant under six months of age.

Pack ‘n Plays are used because they are portable. Before a family is given a Pack ‘n Play, Cribs for Kids provides education and training on proper sleep position and sleep environment for the baby.

To participate in the Cribs for Kids program in Milwaukee, a Medicaid-eligible parent can make an appointment at any one of the three Milwaukee Health Department Safe Sleep Clinics located throughout the city. Each appointment lasts about an hour. During that time, the parent learns about safe sleep practices and is given a demonstration of how to set up and take down the Pack ‘n Play. To contact the Cribs for Kids Program by phone, call (414)286-8620.

Milwaukee Health Department’s Cribs for Kids program started in 2009 and continues to grow each year, giving out 400 cribs in 2009 and almost 1000 cribs each year in 2010 and 2011. Mayor Tom Barrett and City Health Commissioner Bevan Baker are to be joined at the press conference by Jeff Nohl, president of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Wisconsin, and Bruce Weiss, market medical director for UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin.

Original Article: JSOnline (Milwaukee Journal Sentinal)
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/138972819.html

Co-Sleeping Baby Death Case: Court Upholds Charges

Heather — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:10:26 +0000

Huffington Post – 01/ 8/12 07:24 PM ET

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Court of Appeals has refused to dismiss charges against a couple accused of killing their baby in 2006 by sleeping with him – their second child to die in bed with them.

The appeals judges sided with a lower court in a pair of opinions released Friday concerning the death of 3-month-old Kayson Merrill. The infant died while in bed between his father, Trevor Merrill, and mother, Echo Nielsen, both 28, of South Jordan.

The parents, whose first child also died while sleeping with them in 2003, have been charged with child-abuse homicide and reckless endangerment. They have pleaded not guilty.

Defense attorneys argued there wasn’t enough certainty to go to trial after the medical examiner also cited illness and low birth weight in his report.

But the appeals court disagreed, saying Utah judges have previously allowed experts “relying on their training and knowledge to provide opinions that do not amount to medical certainty.”

Kayson Merill was put to sleep on his back, but found dead on his stomach.

He was too young to roll over on his own as a baby, evidence that “supports a reasonable inference that Trevor Merrill actually caused the infant to stop breathing by co-sleeping,” according to the court’s opinion.

The parents also had an infant daughter who died three years before while sleeping with them, but her death by positional asphyxia was listed as accidental.

The appeals court decided evidence of the first death could be admitted at trial, despite the objections of defense attorneys who argued it wasn’t relevant and would prejudice the jury.

An attorney for Nielsen declined to comment, and Merrill’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a phone call.

Original Artical: Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/co-sleeping-baby-death_n_1193783.html

Ad Campaign Unveiled as Another Co-sleeping Death is Announced

Heather — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:49:54 +0000

New campaign aims to reduce Milwaukee’s infant mortality rate to historic low by 2017

By Karen Herzog and Crocker Stephenson of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 9, 2011 |(85) Comments

Minutes before city officials unveiled a new safe-sleep advertising campaign Wednesday, the medical examiner’s office announced that a 7-week-old baby was found dead on Milwaukee’s south side after co-sleeping with his or her mother.

The infant, whose gender was not released, is at least the ninth Milwaukee baby to die this year while in an unsafe sleep environment. Details of the child’s death will be released following an autopsy, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner said.

News of the death, which apparently had not yet been conveyed to Mayor Tom Barrett and Commissioner of Health Bevan Baker, underscored the urgency of the ad they unveiled during a morning news conference at the Southside Health Center, 1639 S. 23rd St.

The ad shows a baby sleeping in an adult bed with a butcher knife tucked beside him.

The tagline reads: “Your baby sleeping with you can be just as dangerous.”

Barrett said that, when he first saw the preliminary ads designed by SERVE Marketing, he wondered whether they were “too provocative and too raw.”

But the mayor said he shudders every time he receives a phone call about another co-sleeping infant death and considers the tragedy of what could be a preventable death.

“We as adults who love babies love the thought of a baby in bed,” Barrett said.

“Cuddling a baby is very nurturing,” he said.

But if it takes a raw message to get the point across that babies must sleep alone, on their backs, in their own cribs, the ad is not too shocking, the mayor said.

“Co-sleeping deaths are the most preventable form of infant death in this community,” Barrett said.

“Is it shocking? Is it provocative?” asked Baker, the health commissioner.

“Yes. But what is even more shocking and provocative is that 30 developed and underdeveloped countries have better (infant death) rates than Milwaukee.”

The Journal Sentinel has been reporting on the many facets of the city’s infant mortality crisis this year in its Empty Cradles series.

Milwaukee’s infant mortality rate in 2009 was 10.4 deaths for every 1,000 live births, according to the health department.

For white babies, it was 5.4. The rate for black babies was nearly three times as high: 14.1.

Also during the news conference, Barrett and Baker announced a goal – which the Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday – to reduce Milwaukee’s infant mortality rate to a historic low by 2017.

The new city goal would reduce the city’s black infant mortality rate by 15% and the city’s overall rate by 10%.

The black rate would be 12 deaths for every 1,000 births. The overall rate would be 9.4.

The goal is based on the Milwaukee Health Department’s analysis of 41 years of infant death statistics.

Barrett and Baker say focusing on the death rate for black infants will help the city reduce an unacceptable racial disparity.

They called on the entire community to join the effort, including health care systems, individual hospitals, doctors, the business community and community-based organizations. All have a vested interest in a healthy Milwaukee, they said.

The United Way of Greater Milwaukee earlier this year joined the city’s campaign to reduce infant death rates. The partnership was kicked off with an initial grant of $200,000 to improve mother and child health in targeted ZIP codes with the worst birth outcomes: 53206, 53210, and 53216.

The money will fund a nurse and social worker who will make home visits in the targeted ZIP codes and address factors that contribute to infant mortality, including smoking, unsafe sleep practices and not breast-feeding.

Another citywide effort is the Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families.

That group is expected to soon announce its goal: Eliminating racial disparity in Milwaukee’s infant death rate by 2020.)

Renew Effort to Prevent Stillbirths & Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths

Heather — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:53:15 +0000

Media Advisory: Senator Lautenberg, Congressman Pallone Renew Effort to Prevent Stillbirths & Sudden Unexplained Infant DeathsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 10, 2011

Washington, D.C – Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. in an effort to raise awareness about stillbirth and Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths, both urgent public health concerns, Monday will renew efforts to prevent these deaths through research and raising awareness in parents and doctors. There are more than 4,600 Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths each year and another 200 children between the ages 1 and 4 die without any obvious cause. Additional tragedies could be prevented if there were a better understanding of the deaths.

Lautenberg and Pallone will be joined by parents who have experienced a loss due to a sudden unexplained infant death as well as leaders in the medical profession from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the SIDS Center of New Jersey who are on the forefront of preventing these deaths in children. Pallone and Lautenberg will introduce legislation to expand data collection efforts, expand support services for families and create a national database to track the circumstances surrounding these deaths.

WHO: Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. along with:

Dr. Peter Amenta, Dean of the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Steve Jones CEO and President of RWJUH
Christina Liberatore a mom from Middletown who lost her 4th child unexpectedly
Laura Crandall Sudden Unexpected Death in Children (SUDC) program Director
Joel and Susan Hollander SIDS parents who founded the CJ Foundation for SIDS following the death of their third child
Dr. Thomas Hegyi Co-Director of the SIDS Center of NJ

WHEN: 11:30 p.m. on Monday, November 14th, 2011
WHERE: Room 3101 at the Child Health Institute, RWJ Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ

http://www.cjsids.org/about-us/whats-new/276-media-advisory-senator-lautenberg-congressman-pallone-renew-effort-to-prevent-stillbirths-a-sudden-unexplained-infant-deaths.html

Observer Series on Infant Deaths Wins Medal

Heather — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:05:18 +0000

‘Cradle of Secrets’ probed cases reported as SIDS.

From staff reports

Posted: Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011

An Observer investigative series on SIDS deaths in the state has won a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. The six-part series, called “Cradle of Secrets” and published in 2010, was honored Tuesday night at the National Press Club in Washington.

The series revealed that N.C. authorities’ bias toward declaring infant deaths as SIDS has hidden the truth behind why many babies die across the state.

Four Observer reporters – Karen Garloch, Fred Clasen-Kelly, Franco Ordoñez, and Lisa Hammersly – examined over 550 autopsies in cases involving babies from 2004 to 2008. They found that almost 70 percent of autopsies labeled as SIDS also described circumstances that suggested the babies died of reasons other than SIDS. Many probably died in accidents, including suffocation while sleeping with adults, or under other suspicious circumstances.

After the series, the state’s Child Fatality Task force began requiring child death investigative training for all new law enforcement officers. And a new chief state medical examiner promised to follow national standards in classifying suspicious infant deaths.

Another Carolinas journalist was also honored. Isaac Bailey, a columnist at the (Myrtle Beach) Sun News and a graduate of Davidson College, won for a six-part series that explored flaws in the interstate child protection laws through the eyes of an Horry County father.

The Casey competition is sponsored by the Journalism Center on Children & Families at the University of Maryland. More than 500 journalists entered this year’s contest.

Read Original Article at Charlotte Reporter: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/20/2706650/observer-series-on-infant-deaths.html#ixzz1cOMV3K7I

KOHL’s Expand Infant Safe Sleep Program

Heather — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:23:29 +0000

October 14, 2011 – USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, KOHL’s Department Store Expand KOHL’s Infant Safe Sleep Program

Kohl’s Cares presented USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital with a check for $110,612 to expand the Kohl’s Infant Safe Sleep, or KISS, program at the hospital. From left are Owen Bailey, USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital administrator, Veronica Hudson, nurse manager of the hospital’s Mother/Baby unit, and Angela Howard, executive assistant general manager of Kohl’s Department Store.

Kohl’s Department Store, through the Kohl’s Cares cause merchandise program, has announced a grant of $110,612 to USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital to renew and expand a safe sleeping program for infants. The program is called KISS, which stands for Kohl’s Infant Safe Sleep. Since starting the KISS program four years ago, Kohl’s Department Stores – through the Kohl’s Cares cause merchandise program – has provided USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital $278,949 in support. The funds are used to purchase educational materials for parents and other caregivers, promote infant safe sleeping habits in the community and provide free cribs to qualifying families.

The Kohl’s Cribs for Kids initiative last year distributed 110 Pack ‘n Play portable cribs to qualifying Mobile County families. The cribs can play a key role in reducing deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, and unsafe sleep. Last year, 43 infants died in Mobile County before their first birthday, a figure that has remained constant since 2008. Preliminary data shows 11 of the deaths were sleep-related, one less than a year ago.

“We are thrilled that Kohl’s has decided to support Kohl’s Cribs for Kids once again,” Nicole Smith, RN, quality assurance director with MOM Care at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, said. “As the infant mortality figures for Mobile County show, there is much work to be done to create a safer environment for babies.”

USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, through MOM Care – Mobile’s Medicaid Maternity Program – provides education and training for qualifying families on proper sleep position and sleep environment for the baby. When a qualifying family completes the program, they receive a free Pack ‘n Play. The cribs are portable and can be taken wherever the baby receives care.

“Some families, due to financial strains, find themselves in a position of not being able to afford a crib and this can quickly turn tragic,” Smith said. “The Kohl’s Cribs for Kids program provides qualifying families with the most basic of needs to help prevent an unnecessary and tragic death.”

The KISS program emphasizes education, as USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital nurses go out into the community to teach parents and caregivers safe sleeping habits for infants.

“There continues to be concern in our community about SIDS and the need to educate parents and caregivers about infant safe sleep habits,” Veronica Hudson, RN, nurse manager of the Mother/Baby Unit at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, said.

“With Kohl’s support, we are presently in more locations teaching families both in the hospital and the community about SIDS and safe sleep habits,” Hudson said. “We really appreciate Kohl’s giving us the support to teach caregivers the importance of positioning and the sleep environment for infants.” Hudson and her team share some key points about infant sleep habits, such as always placing your baby on his or her back to sleep, even for naps. Other important reminders are:

Place your baby on a firm mattress, such as in a safety approved crib
Remove soft, fluffy bedding and stuffed toys from your baby’s crib
Make sure your baby’s head and face remain uncovered during sleep
Do not allow smoking around your baby
Do not let your baby get too warm during sleep
Talk to childcare providers, grandparents, babysitters and all caregivers about SIDS risks
Do not allow your baby to share a bed with anyone
Have the infant sleep in the same room as the caregiver
Consider offering a pacifier at nap time and bedtime
Encourage “tummy time” when the infant is awake and observed by a caregiver

“By providing safe sleep education and needed support to parents and other family members, we hope that this will help families feel comfortable in caring for their newborns, have the resources they need to care for their newborns, and that the number of SIDS cases can continuously be reduced,” Hudson said. “The KISS program is a great opportunity to use the resources offered by the nurses of USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital and the support provided by Kohl’s to deliver a community awareness campaign of infant safe sleep practices.”

To schedule a KISS visit, or for more information about Kohl’s Cribs for Kids, please call USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital at 415-1000 or visit www.usahealthsystem.com/usacwh, then click on Education and look for the KISS link.

Article found on USA Health System website: http://www.usahealthsystem.com/body.cfm?id=3308&action=detail&ref=72

AAP New Safe Sleep Guidelines

Heather — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:43:47 +0000

AAP’s New SIDS Stoppers: Cleared Cribs, No Cosleeping

By: By MICHELE G. SULLIVAN, Family Practice News Digital Network

BOSTON – Plush, soft, fuzzy, warm, and cuddly – those seem like the perfect attributes for a newborn nursery. Except if you’re the newborn.

A new policy from the American Academy of Pediatrics says that babies who sleep on their back on a firm, flat surface – in their own unadorned crib – are most protected from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the deadly related tragedies of suffocation, asphyxiation, and entrapment.

The AAP released its newest guidelines Oct. 18 for infant sleep safety and SIDS risk reduction (Pediatrics 2011 Oct. 17;doi:10.1542/peds.2011-2285). The take-home message for pediatricians and parents alike is a simple one, Dr.
Rachel Moon said at a press briefing.

“Put baby on the back for every sleep. Use a firm sleep surface designed for infants, with no soft objects, wedges, positioners,” or any other fashionable accoutrements such as ruffles, blankets, crib drapes, or bumper pads.

The ideal sleeping set-up? A crib, bassinet, or portable crib/play-yard in mom and dad’s room, with a firm mattress, a tight-fitting bottom sheet, and no blanket or other baby-dangerous decorative items.

Although such adornments may satisfy a parent’s fashion sense, they make no safety sense at all, said Dr. Moon, the policy’s primary author and a pediatrician at the Children’s National Medical Center, Washington.

Since 1992, when the AAP first launched its “Back to Sleep” campaign, SIDS cases in the United States have decreased by 50%. “But we’ve seen an alarming increase in other deaths,” Dr. Moon said. “There has been a quadrupling of infant deaths due to suffocation and entrapment, and a lot of this is attributable to inappropriate bedding and to cosleeping” with parents.

Those deaths – grouped together as sudden unexplained infant deaths (SUID) – can’t always be distinguished from SIDS, she noted. SIDS infants probably have some vulnerability that predisposes them to an unexplained death, whether that is an inborn error of metabolism, prematurity, or exposure to cigarette smoke. SUID may occur either among those infants or among those who have no identifiable risk factors. Other than a coroner’s exam – almost universally unhelpful – there’s no way to tell these deaths apart.

The safest course is to make sure that infants have the safest possible sleep accommodations. The bare crib eliminates a number of dangerous factors that can cause an accidental infant death.

The new policy also tackles the controversial subject of cosleeping. The family bed has been promoted among many circles as the most natural way to care for a newborn. Some groups – and even physicians – have suggested that cosleeping may help prevent SIDS.

There are no data to support those claims, Dr. Moon said. In fact, cosleeping can put the infant at risk of smothering under heavy covers, airway obstruction if an adult limb falls across its face, and even overheating – a recognized SIDS risk factor.

Bed sharing is even more dangerous with adults who are medicated or have consumed alcohol or drugs, Dr. Moon added. Those adults will be less aware of their movements and whether they might endanger the sleeping infant.

“There has been a quadrupling of infant deaths due to suffocation and entrapment, and a lot of this is attributable to inappropriate bedding and to cosleeping.”

Parents shouldn’t worry that babies might choke on their own secretions when sleeping on their backs, Dr. Moon said. Babies have built-in protective physical guards against choking. There’s also no evidence that placing newborns on their sides helps drain amniotic fluid or other secretions from their lungs. Moms who choose rooming-in after delivery should also put their baby to sleep in the supine position and request that nurses do the same.

Preterm babies and those with low birth weights are especially at risk for SIDS, Dr. Moon said. Even infants in the neonatal intensive care unit should sleep supine as soon as they are medically stable.

The AAP policy stresses the protective influence of breastfeeding, but notes that infants who come to the adults’ bed for nighttime nursing should go back to their own crib after feeding.

“Because of the extremely high risk of SIDS and suffocation on couches and armchairs, infants should never be fed on a couch or armchair when there is a high risk that the parent might fall asleep,” according to the policy’s authors.

The AAP policy gives the pacifier its proper place as well. Pacifiers seem to protect against SIDS, although the mechanism isn’t really understood, Dr. Moon said. “It seems to have something to do with stimulating arousal,” as the babies suck during sleep.

But if the plug comes unplugged during the night, don’t worry, she said. “Parents don’t need to worry about putting the pacifier back in the baby’s mouth, especially if the baby doesn’t seem to want it.”

But Dr. Moon warned parents to never, ever attach a pacifier to an infant’s clothing in any way, especially with a string or ribbon around the baby’s neck.

Immunizations also protect against SIDS, so it’s critical to keep babies up to date with vaccinations, she said. And adults should never smoke around infants. Infants exposed to cigarette smoke are at a significantly increased risk of unexplained infant death.

Despite all the talk of supine positioning, supervised “tummy time” in which infants are allowed to lie prone for some time is also important, Dr. Moon added. Tummy time is an important way for infants to develop neck, back, and arm muscles, and prevent positional plagiocephaly.

http://www.familypracticenews.com/news/more-top-news/single-view/aap-s-new-sids-stoppers-cleared-cribs-no-cosleeping/a7e304621a.html