We used the sling a lot with DD#3, but I can't imagine not being aware of her breathing - even in the sling, I could feel her wriggling, and almost always had a hand on her to feel her breathing.
I think it comes down to common sense. And to be honest, I would be very surprised if the 13 deaths claimed by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission were really attributed to the slings. 13 baby deaths from one category of products would garner a lot more publicity than this...
I remember reading somewhere about this before - it's a specific style of sling (like a sports bag) that is usually involved in these stories - the infantino sling rider is one of those styles...
I think if people are buying things like this in the shops they are assuming they are safe to use so they trust and don't check as much... maybe with slings made by WAHMs and bought at markets and home-made etc, people are more careful about thinking for themselves and re-thinking if baby looks too squished, instead of just having faith that 'that's how this one is supposed to work so it must be fine'...?
This thread discusses the recent news articles in more detail.
HTH!
ETA: and yes, the concerns do relate to a particular type of sling, known as the bag sling, when used to carry newborns in a cradle carry. The infantino sling rider is the best known example of it. Unlike more readily adjustable carriers with shallower pouches, these types of slings are not conducive to correct positioning to avoid positional asphyxia even with good awareness, and are rarely suitable for newborns. However, whilst any carrier can be dangerous without proper parental understanding of newborn positioning, a carrier designed with that understanding is highly unlikely to cause problems. The problem with bag slings is that there is little one can do to avoid a non-optimal position because of their inherent design.
Last edited by suse; March 21st, 2010 at 09:53 PM.
It was 13 deaths in 20 YEARS!. If you think about how popular slings are (even assuming this statistic is limited to the U.S.) I'd say that would make slings and carriers quite safe! Not all the deaths were suffocation, some of them were from babies falling out of slings (I have no concept of how this could even occur to be honest) and some aparently because the bubs chins were resting on their chests and restricting their breathing. Most if not all of the babies who died were premmie or had breathing difficulties.
Nee - what you are saying is correct in essence, but it's important to distinguish that these deaths were predominately due to positional asphyxia, and all specifically related to the same type of carrier - what is commonly known as the bag sling.
My post in the other thread gives more information on how to position a newborn safely and why the bag sling type is particularly dangerous because its inherent design makes bad positioning and airflow difficult to avoid.
Babywearing groups have been campaigning for bag slings to be removed from the market for a long time now, so this decision has been met with great approval. Hopefully this will be the starting point for more widespread education on babywearing safety rather than a witch-hunt on wearing in general.
To reiterate though - all carriers should be used with an awareness of safe positioning, but most are not inherently dangerous (unlike the bag sling) and their design does promote correct posture.
Another thing worth mentioning is that provided that it is done with awareness of good positioning, kangaroo care has been shown to be beneficial for premmies and newborns and should not be avoided. It would be very disappointing if misplaced concern over the safety of carriers in general caused some parents to shy away from what is a wonderful way of interacting with their infants.
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