CPSC Aligns With Furniture Industry to Endorse Cribs

The CPSC in conjunction with the Juvenile Product Manufacturing Association has launched a massive campaign to "warn parents of the dangers of infants sleeping in adult beds." The evidence upon which this announcement is based is derived from sources which are incomplete and unreliable. The JPMA has underwritten this campaign which promotes cribs as the "only safe place" for an infant.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RECENT CPSC STATEMENT ABOUT INFANT SLEEP MISLEADING

Last weeks CPSC warning against sleeping with your baby leaves out key facts.

NASHVILLE, May 7, 2002. Last week at the International Juvenile Products show in Dallas, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a statement warning parents that "the only safe place for an infant to sleep is in a crib." The data underlying this recommendation is both unscientific and inconclusive. In addition, the recommendation is biased toward the financial interests of those underwriting the resulting campaign

The recommendation relies on information that a CPSC staffer admitted was "anecdotal, not scientific." This data indicates that between 1999 and 2001, at least 180 children under the age of two died in adult beds. The CPSC gathered information from death certificates, coroners reports, newspaper clippings and other sources. Data gathered from these kinds of sources can be inconsistent, subjective, and, in many cases, simply incomplete.

Additionally, several key pieces of information are absent. The report does not examine the total number of children who slept in adult beds during that time. While the loss of 60 childrens lives per year is tragic, this number by itself does not help us truly understand what happened. What we have is a raw number without any perspective -- to understand we need to know the number of children who slept in adult beds without incident, as well as the number of infants who died in cribs during the same time period.

The statement is cast into further doubt by its timing and close association with crib manufacturers. The CPSC released this statement jointly with the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association (JPMA) at their international trade show in Dallas. This joint statement is only the first step in a planned massive campaign aimed at warning parents of the "hidden dangers of placing infants in adult beds." Because this clear endorsement of cribs will undoubtedly result in sales, one can easily question the motives of the JPMA. If the intent is truly to protect children, it would make far more sense to raise awareness of safe sleeping practices in both cribs and bed sharing situations.

The CPSC is an independent government agency charged with reducing the risk of injuries and deaths associated with consumer products. Considerable scientific data about safe adult-child bed sharing exists; yet, in this instance, the CPSC is deliberately choosing to endorse the use of a product rather than to adhere to its mission of ensuring the safety of those products. Their job should be to make all sleeping environments as safe as possible.

When parents who do not abuse alcohol or drugs co-sleep with their infant on a firm mattress without fluffy bedding, the environment can be beneficial for both the infant and the parent. Research has shown that infants who co-sleep breastfeed more, get more protective care during the night from their parent, and receive more touching, all of which have been shown to be beneficial to young children. Additionally, mothers who co-sleep report better sleep themselves.

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CONTACT
Attachment Parenting International
Ms. Macall Gordon -- West Coast
(425) 867-5152 (PST)    
mgordon@attachmentparenting.org

Ms. Tricia Jalbert -- East Coast
(603) 673-8797 (EST)
tjalbert@attachmentparenting.org