Training

Today Andi and I spent the day at a conference for CASA training. She has decided to be a volunteer and today was her first training session. At times, I wasn't sure she was going to make it. The topics today centered around safety issues. Different speakers gave presentations on drownings, burns, ATV accidents, fires and several others. The one that was the most heart breaking was when the coroner spoke on safe sleeping for babies and the tragic results of those who don't practice safe sleeping habits.

As she presented pictures from actual homes where children had died from positional asphyxiation, I was handing Andi Kleenex after Kleenex. There was one where a mom had set up a pack and play for Grandma to use, but Grandma didn't think it looked comfy enough, so she lined it with a folded quilt and 2 pillows. Her 5 month old grandson died in that pack and play that night and the pictures clearly showed his outline, where he had snuggled down into the comfy pillows that grandma had put in the bed.

I can't begin to imagine how his grandma felt. Things are so different than when we raised our older kids. So just in case you don't know, the American Association of Pediatrics recommends that all babies be put to sleep on their backs. No pillows in the bed. No blankets in the bed. No crib bumpers in the bed. No stuffed animals in the bed. No sleep wedges, No memory foam mattress. Nothing but the baby and a fitted sheet. If temperatures are cool, put the baby in a sleep sack. A car seat should not be used for a bed. Neither should a swing -- or a bouncy seat. A child can relax so much in their sleep that they will slump down to the point of cutting off their own airway.

If you could see what we saw today, you would have no problem following these guidelines.