Co-sleeping scare ads

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/milwaukee-runs-pr...-213117311.html

Discuss. I'll post my rant later.

Uch. I hate these ads. There are just as many fatalities from automobile crashes, but we don't tell people not to drive. We teach them to drive carefully, buckle up, use seatbelts.

These campaigns are such a waste of energy. Every parent co-sleeps, some intentionally, some by accident. Those who do it by accident often are the ones who have more problems b/c they don't take proper precautions, and they feel guilty for co-sleeping b/c of these campaigns. The campaign should focus on educating people how to co-sleep safely (safety bar on the bed, no humungous blankets, etc), rather than making people feel bad about it but not giving them the tools to do it safely, especially since its all too common.

That was my thought.

My other thought was that nobody is looking at the stats and figuring out (1) how much of the risk is actually from unsafe practices as opposed to co-sleeping itself, and (2) how the risks associated with fatigue can be reduced by safe co-sleeping.

Here are a couple of excellent responses to this campaign:

http://thefeministbreeder.com/dear-milwauk...-are-not-cribs/

http://www.phdinparenting.com/2011/11/14/f...s/#.TsVw33FitD1

Also, I don't get the butcher knife. What do we think that baby will do with that knife that can possibly hurt him? What, he'll pick it up and start chopping carrots without knowing the knuckle grip? Now if it were one of those stupid little paring knives people use as if they were actual tools, that would be a different story. Those are a hazard.

Anyway ...

There's a writer called the bloggess who wrote a VERY funny rebuttal to the ad.


Cosleeping was MORE safe for us. I don't do well with extreme exhaustion/sleep deprivation. Cosleeping led me to getting MORE sleep and being able to take care of my baby!

And he's just so darn snuggly.


What infuriates me is that these people who decry cosleeping don't take into account at ALL the fact that most of the issues that arise are a result of mom and dad being on medication or having a drink. My LLL leader is VERY adamant that cosleeping is GREAT, but here are some guidelines to do it SAFELY.

And let me tell you, my vegetable peeler is more dangerous than any other kitchen implement I own. I can't tell you HOW many times that darn thing has taken a chunk outta my thumb!!!

Don't get me started on this - a good friend of mine lost her baby to SIDS. She took all the precautions a responsible parent would take cosleeping with a child. Baby was on his back, no heavy blankets, regular bed - not a pillow top or water bed, but because the baby was in their bed when he died, they listed the cause of death as cosleeping.

Those campaign ads are dangerous, and not because they are spreading lies-- they are doing something much, much worse. They are spreading dangerous sleep, in cribs and outside of them.

Would you put a baby face down on a down blanket? Or on a pillow? No, because that's dangerous. And that's what the ad depicts. How many moms are going to walk away with the wrong message, that it's the bed and not what's in it that matters?

It's frightening to contemplate, and it's one of the many problems with public health initiatives.