"Sleep safe, sleep sound, share a room with me" 

2 February 2005

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths and Babies R Us have joined forces to promote the important health message that “the safest place for a baby to sleep is in a cot in the parents’ room for the first six months”. This is known to substantially reduce the risk of cot death. In the largest ever cot death study, it was found that over half the deaths (52%) might have been prevented if the baby had slept in the parents’ room but not in their bed .

Babies R Us are supporting the campaign with a special new leaflet available in all stores and by donating £1 to FSID from each of the Safe ‘n’ Sound and Trio Safe ‘n’ Sound Moses, crib and cot mattresses they sell.

Joyce Epstein, FSID’s Director said:
“Callers to our Helpline say they are confused about where to sleep their baby. The safest place is to sleep the baby in a cot in parents’ room for the first six months. Along with steps like sleeping the baby on the back, not exposing them to cigarette smoke and avoiding overheating, parents can know that they are doing the very best to protect their baby from cot death. For a free booklet containing these and other lifesaving messages, call our Helpline on 0870 787 0554”.

Julia Cooper, BABIES R US Director, said:
“We are delighted to team up with this leading baby charity and give our customers advice to help them give their babies the chance of a lifetime. We hope that our donation will pave the way for more research to help explain these awful tragedies and produce further advice to boost infant health”.

Notes to editors:

1. FSID is the UK’s leading baby charity working to prevent sudden deaths and promote health. FSID achieves its aims by funding research, supporting bereaved families and promoting health messages to parents and carers.

2. Babies R Us is a one stop baby shop for new parents offering a massive choice of pushchairs, car seats, cots, highchairs and everything a new parent would need for their baby 0-2 years. Babies R Us is located in each of the 65 Toys R Us stores throughout the country and two new Babies R Us Baby Superstores in Cambridge and Tamworth.

3. The cartoon image depicting the room-sharing advice is available on request.


Media enquiries:

Sarah Kenyon, Communications manager 0870 787 0726 / 07981 899 827

 

More Press releases »