GBI video warns against infant co-sleeping

DECATUR — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced on Thursday free access to its public information video on how to prevent sleep-related infant deaths.

In collaboration with the Department of Public Health and the Division of Family and Children Services, GBI officials say they hope to raise awareness concerning the dangers of “co-sleeping,” or newborns and young infants sleeping with a parent, a media release states.

“Some parents believe they can better bond with their children if they sleep with them, in the way their mothers or grandmothers did,” Trebor Randle, special agent in charge — GBI Child Fatality Unit said . “I respond that there was a time when people didn’t ride with their seat belts on, and some of us were lucky to survive.

“Now that we have better information, we should do better.”

According to the GBI, the majority of infant deaths in Georgia is not primarily related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which may be unavoidable, but is attributable to Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID) and other sleep-related deaths, which are mostly preventable.

Annually, more than 100 infant deaths per year are categorized as “sleep-related in Georgia, the release states.

Pulling from years of infant death statistic and doctors’ statements, the video warns against co-sleeping and outlines how to make cribs or bassinets safer for infants by eliminating toys, stuffed animals, pillows, loose bedding and crib bumpers.

“These are killers,” said Dr. Gary Freed, a physician featured in the video.

The GBI video may be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks9ew3lYRe4 or at the GBI website http://gbi.georgia.gov/CFR.