US moms think inside the box!
Just use cardboard to keep baby safe
Cardboard boxes certainly aren’t new technology, but as parents in Finland discovered as far back as the 1930s, they’re a great place for newborns to sleep safely.
The pared-down design eliminates the padded beds and plush bumpers of standard cribs — lessening the risk of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death.
And they’re so cheap, some hospitals are giving them away free to new parents.
An LA-based company has also partnered with health officials to give “baby boxes” away for free. And an online initiative is striving to distribute them nationwide.
New Jersey and Ohio were the first state governments to participate in the giveaway.
“To new moms: [Sudden Infant Death] was one of my biggest fears and then it happened,” said one backer, Chauntia Williams, 35, of Maple Heights, Ohio.
Williams is an advocate for safe sleeping and the boxes after she lost her 33day-old daughter, Aaliyah, nine years ago.
Williams said her daughter went to sleep in a crib with cushiony bumpers, stuffed animals and an added blanket beneath the fitted sheet and never woke up. She said the coroner determined the bedding caused the death.
Williams now uses a box with her son, Bryce.
Her message to new parents: Educate yourselves on safe sleep habits.
“Open your mouth and say ‘I’m concerned about this’ so you can get the assistance,” Williams said.
Sudden Unexpected Infant Death is a broad category that includes Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and accidental suffocation and strangulation that could come from overcrowded bassinets or cribs. The boxes aren’t the only option for safe sleeping, of course, but health officials say they’re a useful part of a broader safesleep education program.
The cardboard boxes double as bassinets.
Each box comes filled with a mattress, fitted sheet, onesie and diapers.
The US rate of sudden unexpected infant deaths has been declining since the 1990s when public health officials began recommending that parents put infants to sleep on their backs, according to the CDC.