STUDY POINTS TO CHILD DEATHS IN SHELTERS

(Article published in HWW Jan-Feb 2008)

Between 2004 and 2006, 20 children died “in a suspicious manner while living with their families in the shelter system in New York City.”

Seventeen of the 20 children were infants under one year old, all were under five.

Suspected abuse figured in some of the deaths. But fully half of the 20 children died “while sleeping in unsafe conditions, mainly co-sleeping with an adult in a bed.”

These are conclusions of a recent study by the Office of Betsy Gotbaum, Public Advocate of the City of New York. Two years earlier, she released a similar study and at that time the City Council passed a law saying that shelter residents should be warned “of the dangers posed to infants by improper sleeping position and arrangements.”

Gotbaum’s new study says:

The proper sleeping position for an infant is in a crib, alone, without loose bedding, toys, or other clutter, with the child’s back against the mattress. When infants are not placed in such an environment, they are at risk of serious injury or death due to overlay or positional asphyxia.
Overlay or rollover refers to incidents in which an adult or older child is sleeping in the same bed with an infant and rolls on top of the infant accidentally (which can cause brain damage or death by suffocation.)
Positional asphyxia occurs when an infant cannot move out of an unsafe sleeping position, such as lying on his or her stomach, and suffocates.

Of the 10 child deaths reported in Gotbaum’s study, sleeping with an adult was “a contributing factor” in 6 of the deaths. Two of the deaths were due to improper sleeping position (either the child was placed to sleep on her stomach and suffocated and a second child was placed to sleep on his side and rolled over on his stomach and suffocated. ) The two remaining deaths include a child who died while sleeping face down with a pacifier in his mouth and another who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) while sleeping overnight in a car seat.

DHS ADVISES PARENTS ON SAFE SLEEP

Asked what information they have to give shelter residents, the Department of Homeless Services has shared with us a brochure called “SAFE SLEEP FOR YOUR BABY: Reduce the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)” published by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Here are excerpts:

SIDS…is the sudden and unexplained death of a baby under 1 year of age.

What can I do to help lower the risk of SIDS?

Always place your baby on his or her back to sleep, even for naps. This is the safest sleep position for a healthy baby to reduce the risk of SIDS

Place your baby on a firm mattress, such as in a safety-approved crib. Research has shown that placing a baby to sleep on soft mattresses, sofas, sofa cushions, waterbeds, sheepskins, or other soft surfaces greatly increases the risk of SIDS.

Remove soft, fluffy and loose bedding and stuffed toys from your baby’s sleep area. Make sure you keep all pillows, quilts, stuffed toys, and other soft items away from your baby’s sleep area.

Can my baby share a bed with her brother or sister?

Bed sharing with other children, including brothers and sisters, is unsafe for your baby. It increases the risk for SIDS as well as suffocation. There have been reports of infants being suffocated from overlying by an adult, brother, sister, or other family member that was sharing a bed with an infant.

Can I bring my baby in bed with me to breastfeed?

Bringing your baby into bed could be risky for your baby. An adult bed usually has a soft mattress and bedding such as comforters, quilts and pillows. If you choose to bring your baby in bed with you to breastfeed,, it is safest to return your baby to his or her crib.

Make sure everyone who cares for your baby knows to place your baby on his or her back to sleep and about the dangers of soft bedding. Talk to childcare providers, grandparents, babysitters and all caregivers about SIDS risk,

So, for the least risk, remind every caregiver to place your baby on his or her back to sleep on firm bedding at both nighttime and naptime.