Parents Group Calls On Consumer Product Safety Commission and Crib Manufacturers to Stop Misleading Campaign.

Health/Lifestyle Editors

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 2002

Parent Group Points to Benefits of Babies Sleeping with Parents

When Safety Guidelines Followed

A campaign that warns parents not to sleep with their babies is misleading, according to Attachment Parenting International (API). API is a nonprofit member organization with nearly 80 parent support groups in the United States and five foreign countries.

API is calling on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) to stop their public campaign called "Sweet Dreams: Sleep Safe with Baby" until more medical research has been done on the issue. API believes the campaign is dangerous to babies because it recommends that only cribs and playpens are safe places for infants to sleep, while implying that other options are unsafe.

"Millions of parents around the world share their beds safely with their babies every night," said Lysa Parker, executive director of API. "Our experience is that parents who follow our safety guidelines for co-sleeping reap the benefits of better sleep cycles for mother and child, increased breastfeeding, and emotional bonding with their infants. Mothers have even saved their babies' lives by being close by when a sleeping baby stops breathing."

Added Parker, "API supports efforts to promote safe sleeping arrangements for infants. However, rather than banning the family bed, let's make this a campaign that informs parents about how to share a bed safely with their babies." API has strongly criticized the CPSC and the JPMA for using incomplete data and scare tactics to get parents to use cribs, when their own data shows that just as many, if not more, babies continue to die in cribs each year. API now urges the CPSC and the JPMA to revamp their campaign to give parents safe sleeping recommendations based on sound science regardless where the baby sleeps.

API also cites a conflict-of-interest in the campaign because it's co-sponsored by JPMA, a trade association representing crib manufacturers, which stands to profit from increased crib sales. "Our experience is that parents are looking for good information from medical authorities," said API's Parker. "The opinion of a trade industry group that sells cribs is not a valid substitute for solid research from pediatricians."

API's safety guidelines say that parents should not smoke, use alcohol, drugs or sleeping medication when they're sharing a bed with their baby. Babies should be placed on their back or side and next to the mother, who is more likely to be sensitive to an infant's subtle movements. Parents should use a firm mattress without fluffy bedding.

Established in 1994, Attachment Parenting International is a nonprofit member organization that promotes Attachment Parenting through education; parent support groups; and networking among researchers, educators and parents. Since 1997, API has affiliated nearly 80 parent groups in the United States and five foreign countries. API's board of directors includes pediatricians, psychiatrists and public health professionals.

Attachment Parenting is a nurturing parenting method that creates strong emotional bonds between infants and their parents. This strong attachment helps to fulfill children's intrinsic needs for trust, empathy, affection and love. Attachment Parenting helps children develop secure, peaceful and enduring relationships for a lifetime. For more information, visit www.attachmentparenting.org.