Co-Sleeping Deaths - Two More DEAD BABIES

Two more very young, precious lives were lost over the weekend in Milwaukee. TWO!

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Two homes where infant boys died in recent days had cribs available, but the children were instead in adult beds with other family members, investigators said Monday.

The boys are the third and fourth babies to die this year after being exposed to unsafe sleep conditions.

A 5-month-old named Jeremiah was found by his father Friday morning in a bedroom at their home in the 4900 block of N. 58th St. He had been placed in an adult bed beside his twin sister the night before, according to a medical examiner's report. His father found Jeremiah facedown in the bed beneath his sister.

Investigators found a crib in the room. They also found a car seat, a pacifier, a pillow, a comforter and other items on the bed. Investigators found evidence of smoking and drinking in the house, according to the report.

A 2-month-old boy named Kamari was found Sunday morning by his mother in a bed they were sharing at their home in the 5800 block of N. 40th St.

The mother told investigators she put the infant in a crib on Saturday night. She said her son woke up at 4 a.m. and that she put him back to sleep beside her in her bed. When she woke up 90 minutes later, she said, he was unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin about 9 a.m.

Investigators said the house smelled of cigarette smoke.

Exposing babies to cigarette smoke increases the risk of sleep-related deaths, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. So does placing an infant to sleep in an adult bed.

Smoking?

Investigators found evidence of smoking in both homes where the deaths took place.

Yeah, they probably found evidence of refrigerators in the homes, but the appliances didn't smother the infants.

I can understand emphasizing the cigarette smoke if the babies had died while sleeping safely in cribs. The tiny victims were placed in dangerous sleeping conditions. That's the key point. Why introduce smoking as a possible cause?

Good grief.

Obviously, not enough is being done in Milwaukee to prevent babies from dying because they are being placed in unsafe conditions.

Co-sleeping deaths have been publicized as an issue in Milwaukee since at least 2009, but nothing changes.

This year alone four babies have already died after co-sleeping.

When are parents/caregivers going to be held responsible for not properly taking care of their children?

A co-sleeping death is completely preventable. There is no excuse.

For more than four years, I've been saying there will be more deaths related to co-sleeping.

It's not going out on a limb to say there will be another baby smothered to death soon.

There's no end to these senseless deaths in sight.