FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                            OCT. 17, 2008 

NURSING PILLOWS CAN BE DANGEROUS TO BABIES

A consumer warning is urging parents not to use Boppy pillows as a sleep aid or put them in cribs

To help keep infants safe, County Executive Andy Spano and District Attorney Janet DiFiore are launching a countywide public education campaign to get the word out that crescent-shaped nursing pillows should NEVER be used as sleep aids or placed in a baby's crib.

            Crescent-shaped infant and nursing pillows are popular because they make it easier to feed babies or prop them up for playtime. However, they can be very dangerous if an infant is left unsupervised.

Three recent child fatalities in Westchester were linked to such pillows. Two of the deaths involved children who were sleeping propped up on the pillow. The third involved a child who was put to sleep in a crib near a crescent-shaped pillow. In each case, the cause of death was unexplained, and the fatalities were ruled to be the result of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). However, the Westchester Child Fatality Review Team found it significant that each case involved the improper use of a crescent-shaped pillow in the infant’s sleeping environment.

Note that the Boppy™ pillow is tagged with a warning and the no symbol plainly cautions against the use of the product for sleeping babies. Additionally, the Boppy™ website specifically states: “We do not recommend using any of the Boppy™ pillow products for babies while sleeping.”

The county’s Consumer and Health departments, as well as the district attorney’s office are reaching out to parents of young children by posting the information on their web sites and asking medical and day care providers to distribute flyers. Flyers have been sent to pediatricians and family practitioners, early intervention providers, WestCOP (which coordinates several day care centers/Head Start programs) and the Child Care Council of Westchester, which will send it to their day care providers.

The county also offers safety tips on the use of nursing pillows:

• Babies should be given a sleep surface that is flat, firm and free of blankets, quilts, toys, stuffed animals and pillows of any kind.
  
  
• Never lay your baby on top of a pillow to sleep or prop your baby’s head or neck up with pillows or soft items like rolled-up towels.
  
  
• Use a crib that meets current safety standards. See www.cpsc.gov. Babies left to sleep should be placed on their backs, not on their tummies.

The warning is posted at www.westchestergov.com and www.westchesterda.net.