Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth reported that 30 babies in just 15 months likely died during unsafe sleeping conditions.
The majority of unsafe sleep deaths involved co-sleeping with at least one parent or caregiver, who awoke to find the child unresponsive, according to the hospital.
Trauma records at Cook Children’s listed a variety of other circumstances, including babies placed on a pillow with a propped bottle, in the crib with a blanket or pillow, in a recliner or on the couch next to a sleeping adult, or wearing a loose T-shirt that covered their face.
“By the time these infants arrived at the medical center, they were in cardiac arrest or respiratory failure,” the report reads.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 3,500 sleep-related infant deaths occur each year in the United States.
Cook Children’s Hospital offered parents these safe sleep precautions:
- Always place your baby on their back to sleep. Side and stomach sleeping are not safe for infants who can’t roll over.
- Use a firm, flat mattress or sleeping surface with tightly-fitted sheets. The surface shouldn’t be sloped.
- Share a room but not a bed with your baby. Babies should sleep in their own cribs or bassinet.
- Clear your baby’s sleep area of blankets, pillows, bumper pads and soft toys.
- Sleep sacks are recommended instead of swaddling, especially after your baby is able to roll over.
For videos, educational resources and more information, go to Safe Baby Sleep (centerforchildrenshealth.org).