Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 9, 1994 TAG: 9401090007
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
A series of studies about the dangers of soft bedding in baby cribs prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last week to warn parents to put infants to sleep on their backs on flat, firm mattresses without any plush, fuzzy bedding.
"No soft, fluffy products - pillows, sheepskins, toys - should be under the infants while they sleep," said the CPSC statement.
The CPSC warning was prompted, in part, by research at Washington University in St. Louis that suggests soft bedding may be responsible for up to 25 percent of deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.
Dr. Bradley Thach and Dr. James Kemp at Washington University began experiments with animals after other studies suggested a link between soft bedding and crib death.
The scientists then developed a mechanical model of an infant's face and upper airway that moved air in a way that mimicked a sleeping child. They found that when the face was pressed against soft bedding, exhaled air was trapped in the porous fabric and could be re-breathed.
Thach said the researchers also investigated the cases of 31 St. Louis babies who had died from what was diagnosed as SIDS. They found that eight of the infants died face down in soft bedding.
Now the researchers are testing the soft-bedding effects on actual sleeping babies, Thach said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.