She is the second Milwaukee infant to die while sleeping with an adult this year.
She was almost six moths old. She weighed more than 16 pounds. She was just getting over a chest cold, but was otherwise healthy.
Her mother is a nursing student. She quit smoking within weeks of finding out she was pregnant. She shared a bed with her daughter to facilitate breast-feeding. She had recently switch to a formula and was trying to get her to sleep in a crib.
But Saturday, the baby fell asleep in her mother’s bed. Her mom had pulled blankets up to her chest.. By Sunday morning, she was dead.
The Milwaukee Health Department recommends that infant sleep alone, on their backs, in their own cribs, without toys and blankets, with a tight fitting sheet.
Remember:
A: Alone.
B: On their Backs.
C: In their own Cribs.
while this is tragic, many more babies die alone in cribs than safely next to their parents every year. when done correctly, co-sleeping is much better for baby than being left alone in her crib:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t102200.asp
Jenni,
Thank you for your post. I couldn’t agree more with your statement and thanks for adding the link to Dr. Sears – SLEEPING SAFELY WITH YOUR BABY. The chest cold and switch to formula feeding are factors that are overlooked.
I lost my nephew to SIDS. He slept alone in his room, in his crib and was not breastfed.
Most babies in the world are breastfed and co-sleep at least with thier mothers and yet the U.S. ranks 12 our of 13 (in industrialized countries) in SIDS deaths – Whereas the Netherlands ranks lowest – where midwifery maternity care, breastfeeding and co-sleeping is common.
Let’s use some common sense and start demanding the type of maternal/infant care that is practiced in the countries that are the safest for mothers and babies.