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 Bed-sharing is a key risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS), according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The
AAP recommends room sharing without bed-sharing for safer sleeping,
as well as using a firm mattress, breastfeeding, placing the baby on
his or her back to sleep, keeping the bassinet or crib bare of
blankets, pillows and any other soft items, and avoiding exposure to
smoking, alcohol and other drugs of abuse.
A previous survey of 1,200 new moms, conducted by Dr. Megan Heere of
Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and colleagues, found
that mothers who received sleep education in the hospital were less
likely to bed share, but those who did not have a place for their
baby to sleep were at increased risk.
To address these issues, Heere and her team developed the Sleep
Awareness Family Education at Temple, or SAFE-T, program, which
includes face-to-face education from nurses on the AAP sleep safety
guidelines, and a baby box packed with diapers, wipes, clothing and
other baby supplies.
To investigate whether SAFE-T reduced SIDS risk factors, the
researchers looked at 2,763 mothers and newborns discharged from the
hospital in 2015 and 2016. Within three days of discharge, the
mothers were surveyed about their baby’s sleep environment. The
researchers compared survey responses before and after the
introduction of education and baby box distribution in 2016.
At the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco, Heere
reported that before introduction of the SAFE-T program, 6.5 percent
of mothers reported bed-sharing, compared to 4.7 percent of those
who participated in SAFE-T.
For mothers who exclusively breast-fed their infants, the rate of
co-sleeping was 11.3 percent before the intervention and 5.9 percent
afterwards. Fifty-nine percent of the mothers who exclusively
breastfed their babies and used the box said it made breastfeeding
easier.
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Most mothers who received a baby box reported using it as a
secondary sleep spot for their infant, while 12 percent relied on
the baby box as the baby’s main sleeping space.
Temple University Hospital, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Kohl’s
Cares for Kids provided funding for the baby boxes.
Baby boxes have been distributed to all new moms in Finland since
the 1930s, Heere told Reuters Health by phone.
In the U.S., however, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warns
on its website that cardboard boxes for babies "are currently not
subject to any mandatory safety standards." The Commission says it
is working with baby box manufacturers, child safety experts and
other interested parties to develop safety requirements for
cardboard baby boxes.
In the meantime, the Commission urges parents and caregivers to
remember: always put the baby to sleep on his or her back, and a
bare sleep surface is best.
SOURCE: Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting, online May 6, 2017.
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