Every day I scroll through the news Yahoo! has to share with me. I only go through their headlines on the homepage. Occasionally I find something I find interesting enough to share and sometimes I find something that inspires me to write. Today I found just that. The headline read “Milwaukee RunsProvocative Ads to Wake Parents Up to Dangers of Co-Sleeping” so I clicked on the article to check this out. There was a giant ad with a baby sleeping next to a butcher knife. What the hell?
When I continued to read the article states that Milwaukee’s infant mortality rate was so high it was higher than most third world countries.
I have a major issue with this ad. First off, it does not give any facts. I realize their infant mortality rate is high, but why? Are all of these babies sleeping in their parents’ bed? How many were in a crib? How many of those parents were smokers? How many of those babies have some sort of underlying condition such as prematurity?
Why are they singling out babies that sleep with their parents?
The article mentions the different percentage rates of race. Prompting an ad run geared towards different races. That starts a whole new series of questions. What are they trying to say or better yet “not” say?
I personally think the ads are ridiculous and a better course of action would be better education. A back to sleep campaign has been instituted nationwide. It is in every single piece of information you receive from the OBGYN, hospital, any parenting or pregnancy magazine and book, any gift packages you get from the hospital, It is literally everywhere you look. If the cause of Milwaukees high infant mortality rate is truly co-sleeping then by all means educate these new parents. But, if there are other factors then you need to stop blame shifting and get to the real issue.
I have four children and we have co-slept with every one of them. We have had no issues, well besides the occasional leaky diaper, poop explosion, spit up, vomit or black and blue marks from being kicked in the face one too many times. I feel co-sleeping has brought me closer to my children and secured our bond tightly. I feel done appropriately it helps institute the trust your baby needs to feel from their parents.
Some tips I have picked up from our experience with co-sleeping.
- Buy a high quality mattress cover
- Keep blankets and comforters to waist level
- Only have pillows for adults on bed, babies don’t need pillows
- Keep a small fan on low circulating in room
- A small night light helps illuminate the room for easy checking on baby
- Snuggle, kiss, hug and love that precious baby as much as possible
So there it is, my thoughts of Milwaukees shitty ad campaign. What are your thoughts? Do you now or have you co-slept with your baby? How was your experience with co-sleeping? I would love to hear what others have to say on this matter.
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About Miranda Sherman
I did read the stats and the whole infant mortality issue in Milwaukee is horrifying. Premature birth is liked to 50% of the loss but unsafe infant sleep is the #2 cause.
Wrote up my 2 cents here: http://www.troublesometots.com/2011/safe-baby-sleep-or-hatchet-job/“
The only co sleeping nightmare I had came in the form of head lice. Other than that we never had a problem. My girl has slept with me from the day she was born. Sometimes she’ll sleep in her own bed, but it’s up to her. I don’t care where she sleeps just as long as she sleeps.
Wow, these adverts are crazy! I agree, they should provide more facts. Such as how many parents smoked, or had had an alcoholic beverage or taken drugs, or were overweight involved in the infant deaths. I co-slept for one year, which was much easier for me as I breastfed and my daughter woke during the nights for feeds. HOWEVER I am a single mama and it was only me and baby in the bed, I don’t know if the risks are increased if there is more than one adult in the bed. You see, they should provide these facts.
Visiting from Welcome Wednesday Blog Hop x
http://beingmama.com/
http://ohsoprettylife.blogspot.com/“
These ads make me sick. I 100% agree with you…where are the facts?! Even for the babies that were co-sleeping when they died, can they isolate co-sleeping as the cause of death? Did their parents smoke? Were there lots of pillows and blankets on the bed? Was one of the parents under the influence of drugs or alcohol? I’d love to see a study that rules out all these factors and still shows co-sleeping as unsafe…because I’m willing to bet it wouldn’t happen. Safe co-sleeping is just that, SAFE. In fact, I think its safer than crib sleeping…but that’s just me!
All three of my kids slept with us and we never had anything bad happen. I think this is a new “trend” that we see through the years. Each child I had (they were 4 and 5 years apart) we were told a new position for them to sleep in.
THANK YOU! I saw this and was outraged!
I have co-slept with all of my kids and have not had any problems. I can’t believe the government spent money on that crap.