It’s all over the American news today – use a fan on your sleeping infant, and the risk of SIDS is greatly reduced. But will you find this story in the UK? In Australia, New Zealand, the rest of the civilized world? Probably not. Why is that? That’s because in other areas of the world, flame retardant chemicals in baby mattresses are viewed as the cold hard cause of SIDS.
It has been scientifically researched over and over in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The results are always the same. When a newborn baby wets a mattress, the moisture is trapped inside. The mixture of urine and the flame retardant chemicals (banned in the aforementioned countries and continents) cause a chemical reaction, leading to a gas which floats up to breathing level for newborns. That’s why babies who sleep on their backs are more safe – they’re further from the gasses. That’s why the fan works – it blows away the gasses. Want heavy-duty scientific research results on these studies? I got ‘em.
If you have any doubts at all, please dig into the above links.
For those of you with newborns who feel as helpless as I did, you can actually still use that mattress by covering it properly. I ordered a BabeSafe mattress cover from New Zealand. Their most expensive cover is only $35 and there is NO shipping and handling charge! They say it takes up to 10 days, but I remember when I got mine it was there in about 3 days which was surprising since it travelled so far.
Please tell everyone you know they can prevent SIDS by something as simple as this mattress cover. Organic baby mattresses are also safe, but they do tend to be quite pricey. As far as I’ve determined, this is the most effective and inexpensive precaution for SIDS.
Note: I do not have any ties or connections with the BabeSafe people, nor have they asked me or paid me to write about them. I simply believe in what they are doing and wish to pass them along to my U.S. readers.
