Baby sling deaths mount in the US
Filed under: Baby public health — Alan @ 5:46 am
After the deaths of 14 children health authorities in the United States are warning parents about the dangers that using baby slings can bring with them.
The slings were made popular by a good number of ‘yummy mummies’ and celebrities.
The reason that slings are becoming used more is because they are said to help strengthen the bond between a mother and her child.
The US health authorities warn that suffocation is a potential danger because babies may get their noses and mouth buried in the material and do not have strong enough neck muscles to free themselves. To top off the problem, since the sling pushes the baby into a curled foetal position, the airways are restricted since the chin becomes bent towards the baby’s chest.
Celebrities including Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt have endorsed swings because they allow parents to have their hands free while still holding their baby close to their body. They also are perceived as a very natural way to hold a baby since the common belief is that when a child can hear their parent’s heartbeat they feel much more secure.
On the flip side, the US has launched an investigation into the slings, which found that there were 14 deaths from the slings, 12 of which were babies that were not even yet four months old. There were also three additional deaths from sling use in 2009. With these facts in mind, the US Government stated that children under 16 weeks should not be placed in slings.
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