Baby slings in the US.

[DrDom]

Hi, I heard from someone at work that there have been some incidents relating to baby slings in the US, yet they didn't know the makes etc, I tried looking on the news, but no luck. Has anyone heard about this?? Thanks.

[Fuschia]

Something about some babies being smothered. But it was something like 14 incidents across 20 years, if I remember it correctly! It wasn't a recall of any particular sling.

I took it with a pinch of salt. I would hazard a guess there are a lot more babies who develop breathing problems after slumping for hours in baby seats, rather than lying flat as newborns, TBH.

I will see if I can find what I read

[Fuschia]

Here it is:

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article7069193.ece

13 babies in 20 years.. isn't my memory good!

[Fuschia]

Without going into the stats in detail, young babies in seats seem to suffer their share of unexplained deaths!

http://kids-safety-products.suite101.com/article.cfm/small_babies_in_infant_car_seats_safety_risks

http://adc.bmj.com/content/93/5/384.abstract - 10 unexplained deaths in 9 years, just in Quebec!

[Polmoche]

No, there is a specific product recalled both in the US and canada, the Infantino "SlingRider."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/24/baby.sling.deaths/?hpt=Sbin

[DrDom]

Thanks alot!

Seems like an unneccessary scare story to me...

[Fuschia]

Polmoche Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> No, there is a specific product recalled both in

> the US and canada, the Infantino "SlingRider."

>

But the 13 deaths across 20 years were a variety of slings.. looks like that company has recalled slings because of a couple of recent high profile cases of legal action but if you think how large the US is, the numbers affected have been tiny.

Sadly there are cases of smothering/SIDS in and on beds, sofas, in cots, in buggies, seats, swings etc... tiny babies especially are vulnerable when they can't lift their heads. Thankfully, the incidence is very small.

[helena handbasket]

The slings were recalled because three babies died last year. The Canadian recall was not because of legal action; the legal system is nothing like that of the US. The Canadian government will automatically recall any item resulting in a baby or child death and will only allow the item back on the market when it is satisfied that it meets all safety standards. Also if you think about it a lot of these accidents are hard to foresee, but once the company knows about it there's no way it should be available to the public without fixing the problem.

The mothers were normal. The babies were normal. The flaw must be in the design of the sling and should be examined, and new mothers should have knowledge of these issues. At the very least know before you buy it and agree to take the chance.

Canada has also recently banned cots with side rails that move up and down...... there have been (rare) suffocations. If a company is in the business of supplying baby items than I support laws that force these companies to ensure their product is safe. The Maclaren case is a good example....... Freak accidents do happen but that's little consolation to these poor mothers (they were just doing their shopping, taking older kids to the park etc. with baby in the sling, so typical and every day. Can't imagine).

[helena handbasket]

Actually just the study was in Quebec, at McGill University. I believe it covered the country (could be wrong). Funny enough my first reaction was that Quebecois were the last of the die-hard smokers at that time and wondered if that was a factor. But it looks like New Zealand did a similar study with similar stats.

But interesting point because the effect of that research is that we were given guidelines about car seat safety (the newborn bucket type) when my son was born and were specifically warned to limit the amount of time the baby spent in the car seat, and warned against things like leaving them to sleep etc.. Which goes to show that once aware of these issues an active government can work towards prevention. I would have never thought of it, and in fact a number of people (of a different generation) advised me leave my son to sleep in it at night.

I assume they did a comaparative risk assessment between risk of using a car seat and not using one.

Fuschia Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Without going into the stats in detail, young

> babies in seats seem to suffer their share of

> unexplained deaths!

>

> http://kids-safety-products.suite101.com/article.c

> fm/small_babies_in_infant_car_seats_safety_risks

> http://adc.bmj.com/content/93/5/384.abstract - 10

> unexplained deaths in 9 years, just in Quebec!

[Fuschia]

helena handbasket Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Actually just the study was in Quebec, at McGill

> University. I believe it covered the country

> (could be wrong).

" Retrospective population-based cohort study reviewing all cases of sudden unexpected death in infants between birth and 1 year of age that occurred in the province of Quebec between January 1991 and December 2000. "

Point I was trying to make was that there is probably as high a risk of breathing problems arising from car seats as slings (and in the UK there are no warnings afaik re time to be spent in chairs or car seats...)

[helena handbasket]

I should read more carefully! :-$

edited to add: it wouldn't be the worst thing to at least give new parents this information so they can be more careful, re car seats, slings or any potential risk that might not seem obvious...... I hate to be paranoid but I just can't help but think that three babies here, ten babies there, these are all the babies of mothers like any of us that might have done things differently had they known and an horrific price to pay........ how does one ever get over knowing that it could have been prevented? I shudder.......

[Fuschia]

While ot is good to be alert to risks, too much info isn't necessarily a good thing. I mustn't read things I stumble across on the net.

Just in the last week I have read about a toddler being mowed down on a level crossing, his mum was screaming but he thought it was a game.. and apparently in the US there have been quite a few incidences of parents forgetting they have their babies in rear facing seats in the back of their cars, and leaving them to roast in carparks. That made me feel quite sick. Please DON'T go and google it, having read press reports of the inquests, I wish I hadn't.

[helena handbasket]

Yes I do know about the heat accidents. Awful.

My son is so fast and unpredictable that I used to have nightmares of somebody leaving the big gate open at Goose Green playground (happens all the time, grrrrr)and my son escaping and running into the road. Came too close a couple of times.

But accidents due to human error are not quite the same as just not knowing what the risks are and doing something you would think twice about had you known better. I confess to being a bit more paranoid than I probably should. Things happen to even the most careful parent. But like I said earlier, I just couldn't live with myself if something stupid and preventable ever happened to my son. The trick is to be as safe as possible without driving yourself crazy! :)

[Fuschia]

Yes, my main dripe about goose green is that big gate that is never shut....

[katgod]

one of the posts says there are no warnings about time spent in car seats - there are it just seems that most people ignore them. Certainly on the Mothercare web site it says 2 hours max. But I see so many people wheeling their babies in the maxi cosi on bugaboo wheels, especially at Blue water, where you know they must have driven there and then gone shopping and then driven home making for surely much longer than 2 hours in the car seat.

The sliong story is terribly sad, had a weep when read it, just an awful thing to happen to anyone's baby.

[Fuschia]

katgod Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> one of the posts says there are no warnings about

> time spent in car seats - there are it just seems

> that most people ignore them. Certainly on the

> Mothercare web site it says 2 hours max.

I have never noticed a warning from anything I got as a new mother or when I bought the things... but I picked it up from somewhere on the web... certainly I realised early on that a newborn needs to be flat a smuch as possible, else their heads loll forrward