This all seems somewhat common sense, but in case anyone hasn't seen one of the new warnings, I've pasted it below.
NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2010
Release #10-165CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908Infant Deaths Prompt CPSC Warning About Sling Carriers for Babies
WASHINGTON, D.C.- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is advising parents and caregivers to be cautious when using infant slings for babies younger than four months of age. In researching incident reports from the past 20 years, CPSC identified and is investigating at least 14 deaths associated with sling-style infant carriers, including three in 2009. Twelve of the deaths involved babies younger than four months of age.
Slings can pose two different types of suffocation hazards to babies. In the first few months of life, babies cannot control their heads because of weak neck muscles. The sling's fabric can press against an infant's nose and mouth, blocking the baby's breathing and rapidly suffocating a baby within a minute or two. Additionally, where a sling keeps the infant in a curled position bending the chin toward the chest, the airways can be restricted, limiting the oxygen supply. The baby will not be able to cry for help and can slowly suffocate.
Many of the babies who died in slings were either a low birth weight twin, were born prematurely, or had breathing issues such as a cold. Therefore, CPSC urges parents of preemies, twins, babies in fragile health and those with low weight to use extra care and consult their pediatricians about using slings.
Two months ago, the Commission added slings to the list of durable infant products that require a mandatory standard. Additionally, CPSC staff is actively investigating these products to determine what additional action may be appropriate. Until a mandatory standard is developed, CPSC is working with ASTM International to quickly complete an effective voluntary standard for infant sling carriers.
CPSC recommends that parents and caregivers make sure the infant's face is not covered and is visible at all times to the sling's wearer. If nursing the baby in a sling, change the baby's position after feeding so the baby's head is facing up and is clear of the sling and the mother's body. Parents and caregivers should be vigilant about frequently checking their baby in a sling.
CPSC is interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are directly related to infant slings. You can do this by visiting www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772.
I wish they were more specific about which sling products are unsafe, because I think there is still a lot of benefit to wearing baby when done safely.
I think they are reffering to the bag style slings: http://babyslingsafety.blogspot.com/
Also, check out www.babywearer.com where there's a lot of resources on sling safety and information about the warning.
I still plan to wear my baby in a ring sling.
MB - I think you're right about the kind of sling they're talking about. And, as I said before, most of what they're saying is pretty common sense (i.e., make sure your baby's mouth and nose are free).
Exactly, MB! So many of these articles are extremely misleading. Babies are dying in bag slings. Bag slings are unsafe. Not slings, not babywearing, just one kind of sling. In fact if you asked an experienced babywearer they would likely have been able to tell you this by looking at it - I mean if you look at the things they look like bags, so the baby is scrunched up in it and the flow of air is restricted, etc.
The article about this on the CBC website actually featured a pic of a baby being worn in a wrap, which is not even close to a bag sling and is probably one of the safest ways you could wear a young baby. Really frustrating.
Wanted to add for comparison, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 892900 infants and young children experienced stroller-related injuries in 1995. I think this is one of those situations where mainstream practices go unquestioned while when anything negative happens with an alternative practice it is questioned.
This article is really good about how to safely position a newborn in a variety of different carriers and I'd recommend everyone read it before trying to wear a newborn. http://www.thebabywearer.com/articles/HowTo/Positioning.pdf
There was actually a RECENT product saftey release about strollers chopping off childrens fingers. I think assuming that a consumer product report on slings is somehow targeting babywearing is extreme. People should intuitively know that they should be relying completely on a product to do anything for their child but unfortunately not everyone thinks that way. I say the more product reports the better. Better to be aware of everything.
I see what you're saying, but I think the point is that they didn't specify which products are dangerous, just put out a warning about slings in general. When a stroller or crib hurts an infant, there is a product recall. They don't say WARNING: cribs/strollers my cause suffocation/amputation. See the difference?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2612533/2010_graco_baby_strollers_recall_largest.html
link to stroller recall
Of course it is targeting babywearing when it's found out that one kind of sling is dangerous and all kinds of babywearing are called unsafe.
It's similar to the way co-sleeping is being handled: If a baby dies while co-sleeping, it's reported as being caused by co-sleeping; if a baby dies in a crib from something other than suffocation, it's considered unpreventable. Shitty.
I may be wrong, but I don't read this as saying that all kinds of babywearing is unsafe. I read it as more of a "use properly" warning, like those you see all the time with carseats.
To me, this paragraph sums up the point of the article (and of other similar articles I've seen):
For me, most of that warning is fairly obvious and I check on my baby instinctually (the C-position info was new to me, but I had never thought to carry my babies in that position anyway). BUT since there have been injuries, those cautions must not be obvious and instinctual to everybody, hence my reason for making this post. Momnipotent - that link you posted looks really useful.
With strollers, I think the reason they point to specific products is because the problem is with the products themselves rather than behaviors. Whereas, with slings, even the bag style carriers are safe if you use them right. I don't think it's anti-babywearing to draw attention to safety issues in sling use. I think it's just something that becomes necessary as babywearing becomes more and more popular. (Just like talking about the safe use of *any* product is going to become necessary if that product experiences a surge in popularity).
I was referring more to the media coverage in general than to this specific article. Often from what I've seen the articles will say "bag slings" once and then throughout the rest of the article will refer to "slings" and "babywearing," so of course people who know little about babywearing - that would be most people - will think that babywearing in general is questionable.
This article is doing the same thing though. They are saying that babies are dying in sling-style carriers. So other sling carriers (ring slings, pouches, rebozos, and all the different kinds of short wraps) are lumped in there, when they are perfectly safe when used correctly.
Whereas bag slings aren't safe when used correctly because IMO there is no correct way to use them. Even the pictures Infantino uses to sell the things look unsafe. I mean it's a bag! LOL! It's not a proper use thing.
Re: the stroller thing, I posted previously that there were 892 900 stroller injuries in Canada in one year... I seriously doubt these were all due to faulty product; they must have mostly been due to misuse (if they were due to a random huge stroller default that year, that would have been explained on the PHAC page, I'm sure).
I agree that it's necessary to talk about babywearing safety since it's becoming more popular. That's why I linked to the article on safely wearing a newborn in a variety of carriers. But I don't see that as what's happening in the media right now, at all.
Not to mention momnipotent that the general public is picking up on the miscommunication. I've had friends bring up the "sling issue" and for those few, the concern they've expressed hasn't been that the infantino sling is dangerous, but that all slings are hazardous. If these same individuals were to hear about a stroller or crib recall on television they wouldn't talk about it was a "crib issue", but instead take note of the particular product.
In this instance, I definitely think the media has done a poor job of getting their facts straight. I'm sure if some large media outlets depicted the wrong crib or model as being recalled they could potentially be sued by the said company. Most media outlets don't even realize the meaning of integrity.
Yep I'm hearing about people being warned by strangers about all kinds of baby carriers now, ones that aren't even sling-style! Sucks.
I'm glad to hear they've put out a recall on the Infantino ones. They're really just not safe and I hate that some big corp was making all this money selling the things and making WAHMs and small businesses who make and sell proper slings look bad.
Anyways. I think it's good to have these discussions because I think there's a lot of misinformation right now and it's important to spread the word! So I'm glad you posted MamaCaboose.