Shoulder-Cloth Is Death-Threatening for Infants

American government issued an alert on shoulder-cloth hazards for infants under 4 months of age. The Consumer Product Safety Commission investigated 13 shoulder-cloth related infant deaths occurred over the past 20 years with three cases being reported last year. One more death is under investigation at the moment. The Commission’s reps say 12 dead infants were younger than 4 months of age.

Shoulder-cloth deaths are basically related to choking caused by two major risks.  First, shoulder-cloth can press on the nose and mouth of babies, making it hard for them to breathe. Second, lying in C-posture inside the shoulder-cloth below mother’s breast or around belly makes infants, whose neck muscles are very weak, press their chin to the chest so they can neither breathe nor even cry.

In this connection the Commission recommends parents to be particularly careful about using shoulder-cloths for babies under 4 months of age.

Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/redvisualg.