BC Coroners Service issues warning about co-sleepers

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The BC Coroners Service is warning parents about potential dangers of using co-sleepers.

The warning comes after an investigation into the death of a 10-month-old Surrey girl who died last year after she got trapped between the co-sleeper and the bed.

The Original and Universal Co-Sleeper crib attaches to the side of an adult bed.

In April 2011, Health Canada issued a recall notice for the co-sleeper, made by California-based Arm’s Reach Concepts. Since then, the co-sleepers have not been available at shops in Canada, but used ones are still turning up at  garage sales and on websites like Craigslist.

It is also possible to purchase the co-sleepers in the states.

In its recall notice, Health Canada noted the danger that an infant sleeping in one “can become entrapped between the edge of the mattress and the side of the sleeper. This poses a risk of suffocation.”

The coroner’s investigation found that is exactly what happened in the little girl’s death. She was on her back in the co-sleeper, but she was found she was face-down wedged between the edge of the sleeper and the mattress of the adult bed.

The Coroners Service reminds parents and all who care for infants that a baby is safest when put down to sleep on their back, in a properly-designed crib or bassinet, with no quilts, pillows, stuffed toys or other soft material in the crib.

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