Eight years ago when our triplet boys were eight months old, a crying baby woke me up. In those "Days of the Sleep-Deprived Parents," one crying baby was much better than three, so I rushed into the dark room to get Baby One quieted down before Baby Two and Three woke and joined the chorus.
I quickly reached down in the dark, picked up Sullivan, and began patting and quietly soothing him. Success! He quieted right down, but something didn't seem right: I had him suspended upside down on my shoulder and was patting his butt. Oh well. At least his brothers didn't wake up.
I tell you that story in the spirit of full disclosure because maybe you'll want to get your bedtime advice for babies from someone else, but we Arkansans have work to do. Too many of our babies under the age of 1 year are being put down to sleep in situations that put them at risk for dying. And they are dying.
According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in January, approximately 3,500 infants are dying in America each year from sleep-related deaths. And as the Democrat-Gazette pointed out last year in its excellent series "Dead Asleep: Babies at Risk," Arkansas has one of the highest death rates in the country. So what can we do?
First, all of us, not just parents, need to know the basics. The recent CDC report demonstrates that many of the most important recommendations for safe sleep are not being followed consistently by many parents, relatives, and caretakers.
And what are the basics? Infants must be placed on their backs, not on their sides or stomachs--"BACK TO SLEEP"--on a firm sleep surface like a mattress in a safe crib or bassinet. Placing the crib or bassinet near the parent's bed can be helpful, but placing the baby in any bed with another person is not. No one of any age should share a bed with a baby.
The only thing in the crib should be the baby in a wearable garment. That means no blankets, not even the ones with the cute embroidered name; no stuffed animals, dolls, or anything soft; no pillows, and no bumpers. Soft bumpers serve no purpose in a safety-approved crib. Once a baby is a good breast-feeder, offering a pacifier can be helpful, but don't force it, and don't use a pacifier connected to a small stuffed toy, clip, or string. Paci only! If a sleeping baby spits the pacifier out, leave it alone. There is no need to cram it back in. And babies should never be allowed to sleep on sofas or soft chairs.
Breastfeeding is very important and good for the baby, but a breastfeeding mother should not fall asleep nor allow a baby to spend the night on her breast or under her clothes or blankets once the feeding is complete. The baby needs to go back in the crib. Avoiding exposure to secondhand smoke is helpful, as is staying up to date on immunizations.
Those are the basics. But preventing 3,500 deaths in America each year is not a parents-only responsibility. We all can be part of the solution.
If we had babies before the early 1990s, many of us were instructed, or did the instructing, that a baby should be placed on its stomach to sleep. We now know that is very bad advice. After the BACK TO SLEEP recommendations came out in the 1990s, there was dramatic improvement in the rate of infant deaths. But the improvement has slowed. Too many of us recommend what we did when we were parents, or what our grandmothers told us, rather than what the evidence now shows works. And we give that wrong information to young parents. We Arkansans need to work together and correct the misinformation so that our young parents and caretakers get good and consistent advice.
Churches, schools, retiree organizations, sports events, job sites, and about any other area with human activity could be an opportunity to spread correct information. Years ago Thailand put "safe-sex" information on bottle caps. Surely we Arkansans can be as creative about Safe Sleep for our infants. Babies must be put to sleep on their backs in a safe crib or bassinet with nothing soft in bed with them: no pillows, no blankets, no bumpers, no stuffed animals or dolls, no cigarette smoke, and no people, including siblings and loving parents.
OK, that's too much information for a bottle cap, but I know Arkansans want to do the right thing for babies. Let's work together to get everyone the right information.
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Vic Snyder is corporate medical director for external affairs at Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Editorial on 02/01/2018