I am disheartened beyond words to share this article with all of you.
(sorry, the chart doesn't come through very well)
CPSC Warns Against Placing Babies in Adult Beds; Study Finds 64 Deaths Each
Year From Suffocation and Strangulation
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) is warning parents and caregivers about the dangers of
placing babies to sleep in adult beds. A CPSC study published in the October
issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that
placing babies to sleep in adult beds puts them at risk of suffocation or
strangulation. This is a danger of which many parents and caregivers are
unaware. The study revealed an average 64 deaths per year to babies under
the
age of 2 years placed to sleep in adult beds, including waterbeds and
daybeds.
A review of incident data from January 1990 to December 1997 linked adult
beds to at least 515 baby deaths. Analysis of the deaths revealed four major
hazard patterns:
* Suffocation associated with the co-sleeping of adult and baby.
* Suffocation where an infant becomes entrapped or wedged between the
mattress and another object.
* Suffocation due to airway obstruction when the baby is face down on a
waterbed mattress.
* Strangulation in rails or openings on beds that allow a baby's body to
pass through while entrapping the head.
CPSC's study is the first to quantify the number of fatalities resulting
from the practice of co-sleeping with babies. Of the 515 deaths, 121 were
reported to be due to a parent, caregiver or sibling rolling on top of or
against the baby while sleeping. More than three-quarters of these deaths
occurred to infants younger than 3 months. The other 394 deaths resulted
from
suffocation or from strangulation caused by entrapment of the child's head
in
various structures of the bed. Entrapments occurred between the mattress and
the wall, bed frame, headboard, footboard, bed railings or adjacent
furniture.
One of the most tragic aspects of these deaths is that they are largely
preventable. In many cases, the adult placing the baby in the adult bed was
unaware of or underestimated the danger posed. The practice of co-sleeping
can result in the adult rolling on top of or next to the baby smothering him
or her. Mothers who breastfeed should be alerted to this hazard and should
be
encouraged to return the baby to the crib after breast-feeding.
"Don't sleep with your baby or put the baby down to sleep in an adult
bed," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "The only safe place for babies is in a
crib that meets current safety standards and has a firm, tight-fitting
mattress. Place babies to sleep on their backs and remove all soft bedding
and pillow-like items from the crib."
Of the 394 entrapment deaths, 296 were on adult beds, 79 were on waterbeds
and 10 were on daybeds. Bed rails, which are portable railings that can be
installed on toddler and adult beds to keep toddlers from falling out of
beds, accounted for nine baby deaths. CPSC is working with the bed rail
industry on the design of these products to reduce the hazard. The following
chart provides more details on the fatality scenarios from entrapment and
co-sleeping.
Fatality Scenario Sleeping Environment
AdultBed Waterbed Daybed Portable
Total
Bed Rail
Wedging between
mattress and wall 125 3 -- -- 128
Wedging between
mattress and bed
frame, headboard
or footboard 128 8 6 -- 142
Entrapment between
mattress and adjacent
furniture 20 -- -- -- 20
Strangulation between
bed railings 23 -- 4 -- 27
Entrapment between
portable bed rail
and mattress -- -- -- 9 9
Suffocation on a
waterbed mattress -- 68 -- -- 68
Total (entrapment) 296 79 10 9 394
Co-sleeping death
(rolling on top of
or against baby
while sleeping) 108 13 -- -- 121
Total (entrapment
co-sleeping) 404 92 10 9 515
For 1998 and 1999, the Commission is aware of at least 76 additional
deaths, 35 due to suffocation associated with co-sleeping and 41 due to
entrapments.
The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, a member of the
Journal of the American Medical Association family of journals, study "Adult
Beds Are Unsafe Places for Children to Sleep," primarily written by CPSC's
Suad Nakamura, Ph.D., was co-authored by Marilyn Wind, Ph.D., (CPSC) and
Mary
Ann Danello, Ph.D., (CPSC). Nakamura gave details about the findings at an
AMA briefing in New York today.
SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
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