Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite
Today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the latest in a grim series of articles reporting on infants dying while sleeping with adults. A number of infant deaths in similar circumstances late last year led to City of Milwaukee health officials launching a “safe-sleep” information campaign. Billboards have been placed throughout the city, and the Health Department website includes information on keeping infants in a safer sleep environment. Parents are advised to place babies in their own safety-approved cribs or bassinets with no stuffed toys, blankets or bumper pads. Babies, we are told, should always sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
As a person who has been studying children’s issues for many years, I find a number of things about this campaign to be noteworthy.