Posted on 01/26/2009 9:41:35 AM PST by CMoran325
Infant deaths blamed on accidental strangulation and suffocation in bed have increased sharply in the United States, federal health officials are reporting today, reigniting a heated debate over the rising number of parents who sleep with their babies.
An analysis of death certificates nationwide found that the rate of fatalities attributed to unintentional suffocation and strangulation in the first year of life quadrupled between 1984 and 2004.
While such tragedies remain relatively rare, and the study did not examine what is causing the increase, the trend roughly coincided with a sharp rise in bed-sharing, which has become more popular to help mothers bond and breast-feed. Such deaths can occur when a sleeping parent rolls on top of a baby, a pillow falls on an infant's face, a blanket gets wrapped around the child's neck or when the baby gets wedged between a mattress and a wall.
"There's been a huge increase in the reports of these deaths,"
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It can be done if measures like these are taken, and it is so beneficial.
Word just needs to be put out about the hazards -- especially the dangers of falling asleep on a couch or elsewhere without having taken the necessary precautions.
What are we worried about. Dead babies are good for the economy according to our esteemed Speaker of the House.
Bed sharing comes with risks that can be mitigated. OTOH, the instance of SIDS with bed sharing is rare. More bed sharing (done correctly), more live babies.
I wonder how many of these bed-sharing deaths were because beds were next to walls, the parents were drunk or on medication that makes them tired, etc.
I could never pull it off. I would put the baby in bed with me and I couldn’t sleep - I just kept staring in awe at the baby.
My daughter in law insists on this and it scares the bejebus out of me.
“While such tragedies remain relatively rare, and the study did not examine what is causing the increase”
Tells you all you need to know. There is no raging debate, but WaPo wants one. Breast-feeding moms are more likely (but not always) to stay home and have a greater bond (can’t have that with universal preK around the corner).
I also had babies sleeping with me in a king-sized bed away from the wall, using a rail to make sure there were no falls. Educate moms, yes, but don’t heed the media arm of the government’s alarmism.
Our babies slept next to our bed in a hanging crib type thing until they were a couple of months old. I was always afraid I’d roll over on them if they were in the bed.
Those poor immigrants. If only we gave them more.... /s
Bed-Sharing is the better than cribs. Sorry WAPO is off target and trying to scare good parents.
My babies slept with me (I always swore I would get up and nurse them and put them back, but after a few nights, I said, “forget it, I need some sleep”. All grew up just fine. Nothing in life is completely free from danger, but it is natural and normal for babies to sleep with their mothers. And I cannot see how a mother who is not inebriated or on drugs can roll over on her baby and kill them. Pillows might be an issue (I never had a problem, but back then no one ever told us pillows were dangerous). I would like to see the stats and see how many of these deaths are actually SIDS and also compare them to other causes of death for infants.
If your baby has some sort of distress in another room in the middle of the night, are you going to hear them? Might they have been saved if they were in your bed? I simply want them to stop scaring everyone.
Thank you. They really should break out the stats that way. I think it’s very dangerous to sleep with your baby when you are drunk or drugged (probably dangerous to be taking care of a baby in that condition anyway). If bed sharing killed babies there wouldn’t be very many of us around right now.
Natural selection’s a b!tch.
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