Health officials in Milwaukee are trying to make sure infants are sleeping safe and sound.
Dozens of infants have died in Milwaukee in recent years, while sleeping in the same bed as a parent. Most recently, a mother woke up Christmas Day to find her six-week-old daughter dead, after she put the infant in bed with her for the night.
Anna Benton with the Milwaukee Health Department says many of these types of deaths could have been avoided. She says the data shows that a parent sharing a bed with an infant can greatly increase the risk of serious injury or death.
The Department has launched a campaign to warn parents about the risk of co-sleeping with an infant. It includes billboards around the city that feature a bed with a tombstone for a headboard, that reads “For too many babies last year, this was their final resting place.”
Benton says parents can still keep an infant nearby while they sleep, but they should be placed in a crib instead of in the bed.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (:56)
