June 23, 1997
Cradles suspended from a motorized mechanism that rocks a
baby to sleep may increase the risk of infant suffocation
- even if the suspended cradle is not in motion, a new
study suggests.
Between 1990 and 1992 at least 15 infants stopped
breathing while in such cradles, and 10 died in the
cribs, according to a report in the Archives of Pediatric
and Adolescent Medicine. In 14 out of the 15 cases,
parents did not use a locking pin that keeps the crib
level while at rest.
"The particular rocking cradles implicated in these
deaths have been withdrawn from the market in the United
States, but are frequently passed on from one baby to the
next, bought secondhand, and are extant in many
households," reported Drs. Jeanne Ackerman and Enid
Gilbert-Barness, of the University of South Florida and
Tampa General Hospital in Tampa.
"Suspended rocking cradles are potentially lethal
sleeping environments and should not be used without a
locking mechanism in place," they concluded.
The infants were three months of age or younger, sleeping
in a face-down position, and were found with the cradle
tilted at a 5 degree or greater angle. Parents discovered
that the infants had stopped breathing anywhere from two
minutes to six hours after being put in the cradle, which
rocked the infants from head-to-toe, rather than
side-to-side. In five cases the infants were successfully
resuscitated.
The researchers believe that the rocking motion in
combination with the tilted crib, can shift an infant's
head into a corner, making it difficult for the infant to
breathe.
"If their heads are against gravity and wedged in
the corner of a tilted cradle, it is more difficult to
move or turn their heads," according to the report.
Putting an infant to sleep in the face-down position is a
hazard now recognized by pediatric experts around the
world, because the infant tends to re-breathe exhaled air
trapped in bedding.
A massive education campaign to put infants to sleep on
their backs, which was launched in the early 1990s in the
U.S., U.K., New Zealand and other countries, is thought
to be the reason why deaths due to sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS) are declining.
Infants in the face-down position are at even greater
risk if the bedding is wet, according to the report,
which found that most babies were placed in the rocking
cradle immediately after feeding. If the infant
regurgitates milk, the wet bedding obstructs air flow
even more than dry pillows or blankets.
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent
Medicine (1997;151:573-575)
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