A lot of moms and dads love sharing photos of their adorable babies on Instagram, but who knew that such a simple pose could potentially be dangerous to their child?
“I woke up and Charlie was gone”
Dr. Sam Hanke shares the tragic story of how his 4-week-old son Charlie, passed away.
“I just sat down on the couch to watch some TV and he was kind of sitting on my chest. We were just hanging out and I nodded off,” Dr. Hanke recalled. “A couple hours later I woke up and Charlie was gone.”
The cause of death? SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome. 4000 children die of SIDS around the world annually, and a large number of those children die in armchairs or on couches. There are a lot of cases wherein the babies die right beside, or right on top of their parent due to suffocation.
And the alarming fact is that you see a lot of these types of poses being shared on Instagram.
Keep your kids safe
As cute as it looks, placing your newborn baby on your chest while you doze off can be very lethal for them. The problem lies in the fact that when babies sleep on their parents’ chests, there’s a risk that the child might slip into a position where they can suffocate.
That is also the reason why co-sleeping for newborns is not recommended by pediatricians, as it greatly increases the risk of SIDS in newborns. The same thing goes for stuffed toys, pillows, and blankets in a newborn’s crib. These objects can be potential hazards, so pediatricians recommend babies to sleep without any toys, pillows, etc.
As cute as the pose might seem to be, it’s best to err on the side of caution and avoid that specific position to help keep our babies safe.
Source: familyshare.com, fatherly.com
READ: A mom’s strong warning about trampoline safety for kids
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