Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Crib Campaign May Harm Babies

In the September/October issue of Mothering, experts report that infants who sleep alone are at risk for SIDS. The research of twelve scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand unanimously supports the safety and benefits of a mother sleeping with or near her baby.

In contrast to these findings, this month the CPSC will launch the "Sweet Dreams" campaign in which it recommends only cribs and playpens as safe places for infants to sleep. Ironically, the CPSC has partnered in this venture with the Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association (JPMA), the trade association for manufacturers of cribs and playpens. CPSC brochures about adult beds will be distributed at retail outlets that sell these items.

In his article in the new issue of Mothering, the world's top expert on SIDS, professor and pediatrician Peter Fleming, describes the largest population-based, case-control study yet conducted, the Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Infancy study. This study included all unexpected deaths occuring over a three-year period from a population of 470,000 births in the United Kingdom. The study's conclusion: "For infants who shared a room with a parent, the risk of SIDS was approximately half that for infants who slept alone. In other words, putting a baby to sleep in a separate room doubled the risk of SIDS."

In another article in the September/October issue of Mothering, James Mckenna, PhD, professor of anthropology, department chairman, and director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, demonstrates that "because the human infant's body continues to be adapted only to the mother's body, co-sleeping with nighttime breastfeeding remains clinically significant and potentially lifesaving."

Tina Kimmel, MSW, MPH, a PhD candidate at the University of California-Berkeley, analyzed the CPSC's own data to show that "it was actually less than half (42%) as risky or more than twice as safe for an infant to be in an adult bed as in a crib." Her further analysis of the CDC' s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) showed that between 1991 and 1999, approximately 68 percent of mothers in Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Oregon and West Virginia slept with their babies.

The CPSC's recommendations are based on anecdotal data and are not consistent with international research. The agency's partnership with industry is inappropriate. Hundreds of doctors, scientists, journalists and consumers have joined with Mothering to appeal to the CPSC to stop their "Sweet Dreams" campaign and to disassociate with the campaigns of industry.

To find out more about the most current research on the benefits of co-sleeping look for the September/October 2002 issue of Mothering at bookstores, health food grocery stores and newsstands.

For interviews with editor Peggy O'Mara, or with any of the scientists whose research is published in this issue contact Peggy O'Mara at 505-984-6293 or peggyo@mothering.com

About The Author:

Peggy O'Mara is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-babies.com. Baby products, clothes, cribs, bedding, strollers & more reviews, information and technical advancements for the concerned consumer.

	Cribs And Playpens
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Crib Campaign May Harm Babies