Co-sleeping: More Dead Babies in Milwaukee

The City of Milwaukee Health Department initiated a "Safe Sleep for Your Baby" campaign.

Babies are dying because parents are failing to provide their children with safe places to sleep.

How to stop these senseless deaths?

Hopefully, a program to raise awareness can help.

For months and months, every time a baby died while sleeping with an adult, messages warning against the practice would be put out to the public but to no avail.

Another baby would die. The message would be repeated and ignored.

Another baby would die. The message would be repeated and ignored.

I don't know why some parents and caregivers ignore the warnings, but they do. Perhaps these adults think that tragedy happens to other people and they're immune.

That's stupid. It's inexcusably irresponsible.

These parents and caregivers are needlessly putting precious lives at risk. It's inexcusably reckless.

In the last two weeks alone, THREE babies have died while sleeping in adult beds.

Not being able to afford a crib is no excuse for co-sleeping.

The City of Milwaukee Health Department has a "Cribs for Kids Program."

The City of Milwaukee Health Department became an official Cribs for Kids® site in May 2009. Our Cribs for Kids® program provides Milwaukee families with Pack ‘n Plays® to help reduce deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and unsafe sleep. Pack ‘n Plays® are provided to families who are unable to purchase one and who are referred by a community professional such as a case worker or nurse.

Pack ‘n Plays® are used because they are portable and can be taken wherever the baby needs to be cared for. Before a family is given a Pack ‘n Play®, Cribs for Kids® provides education and training on proper sleep position and sleep environment for the baby.

YOU CAN HELP! Any contribution, large or small, is welcome. A contribution of $100 will pay for the purchase and delivery of a Graco® Pack ‘n Play®, as well as a sleep sack and customized individual education for families to help their baby sleep safely.

You can also mail in a check. Please make checks payable to “City of Milwaukee Health Department – Cribs for Kids program”. Mail your check to:

Cribs for Kids® Program
c/o City of Milwaukee Health Department
Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building
841 N. Broadway, Third Floor
Milwaukee, WI 53202

To contact MHD’s Cribs for Kids® Program by phone, call 414-286-8620.

Community professionals, such as a case worker or nurse, may refer families to the Milwaukee Cribs for Kids® program by calling 414-286-8620.

Co-sleeping deaths are 100 percent avoidable.

Safe Sleep Guidelines
Parents should:

---Put baby to sleep on their back. Babies who sleep on their backs are safer.

---Provide a separate but nearby sleeping environment, meaning: babies should share a room with their parents, but not a bed. The risk of SIDS is reduced when the infant sleeps in the same room as the mother.

---Never put a baby to sleep on a couch or a chair. A crib, bassinette or cradle that conforms to the safety standards is recommended.

---Make sure that the only item in the crib is a mattress, covered by a tight-fitting sheet. No bumper pads, blankets or toys.

---Never lay a baby down on or next to a pillow. Pillows are extremely dangerous for infants as they can cause suffocation.

---Dress the baby in a one-piece sleeper to keep them warm in winter.

---Keep the room at a temperature that is comfortable for the whole family. But the house should not be too warm.

---Never smoke in a house where an infant or child lives.

These are such simple guidelines, and they can mean the difference between life and death.

Negligence should not be tolerated. I think the adults involved should be held accountable.

No baby should become a co-sleeping death statistic.

Do you want to kill your baby?

No?

Then provide a safe place for your baby to sleep.
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