In a study carried out for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths(FSID) and Mothercare, 797 parents of children aged under three werepresented with a picture of a baby sleeping in a room containing eightcot death risks. Only a quarter of the parents could identify more thanhalf of the potential hazards.
The researchers found that:
- 90 per cent of parents did not mention the baby sleeping in its ownroom as being at risk of cot death
- 69 per cent did not identify that the baby was sleeping on its siderather than its back
- 27 per cent did not know that a cot or bed positioned next to aradiator is a cot death risk
- 30 per cent did not recognise loose bedding as a risk factor.
Other risks in the picture included the baby sleeping on a pillow,wearing a hat, sleeping in the middle of the cot and not in the'feet-to-foot' position, and sleeping without sucking on a dummy.
To help raise awareness of potential cot death hazards, FSID andMothercare have published a free sleep safety leaflet, available in allMothercare stores.
Stacey Kerr of FSID said, 'The results tell us where we need toconcentrate our efforts and what messages aren't being understood. Ahuge proportion of new mothers shop in Mothercare stores, so the freeleaflet in store is a good way to target them.'
