Milwaukee Health Dept. Releases Ad Comparing Parental Co-Sleeping to Baby Sleeping with Knife
- Posted on November 16, 2011 at 10:49pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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Is it shocking? Is it provocative? “Yes,” says Milwaukee Health Commissioner Bevan Baker of a new, controversial ad campaign targeting the dangers of parents co-sleeping with their infants.
“But what is even more shocking and provocative is that 30 developed and underdeveloped countries have better [infant death] rates than Milwaukee,” Baker added.
According to the Huffington Post:
SERVE marketing designed an advertisement for the city’s Health Department that features a baby sleeping next to a knife. The text above the photo reads: “Your baby sleeping with you can be just as dangerous,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
The Milwaukee Health Department hopes the ads will help lower the city’s infant mortality rate, which was “10.4 deaths for every 1,000 live births” in 2009, the Journal Sentinel points out.
[...]
The ads were discussed on the “Today Show” Wednesday morning, where NBC’s Chief Medical Editor Nancy Snyderman pointed out, “their message is absolutely important, this is not the right way to do it.”
But while some experts and parents denounce co-sleeping, others advocate the practice, considering it a meaningful way to bond with one’s child.
Dr. William Sears, who wrote about co-sleeping, in “The Baby Book,” says it is a safe practic as long as parents take proper precautions.
“Put yourself behind the eyes of your baby,” Sears Huffington back in August. “Ask, ‘If I were baby Johnny or baby Suzy, where would I rather sleep?’ In a dark lonely room behind bars, or nestled next to my favorite person in the world, inches away from my favorite cuisine?”
Christie Haskell, mother and writer for Cafe Mom’s “The Stir” wrote that co-sleeping “can be a fantastic bonding family decision.“ She wrote she was ”outraged” after seeing the Milwaukee Health Department’s ad, and pointed out the babies in the photos weren’t positioned correctly.
“They made sure there were tons of poofy and loose blankets and pillows that look like they’re going to swallow the baby (who is on his/her stomach, not back),” Haskell wrote. ”The suggestion is not only that co-sleeping is dangerous, but that parents who co-sleep must be ignorant of all safety precautions of any kind.”
The ad campaign comes on the heels of a recent infant death in which the child was sleeping with his or her mother.




















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Comments (115)
oneloved
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:57amCo-sleeping is completely safe if you follow a few simple guidelines, just like we do when driving with children in our cars. The majority of the world’s population has co-slept with their children for most of the world’s history. This ignorant fear mongering has got to stop.
Co-Sleeping: Yes, No, Sometimes?
Report Post »http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/co-sleeping-yes-no-sometimes
old white guy
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 6:08amsometimes it is necessary to sleep with a child. if the child has had a medical problem that needs monitoring it may be the only way to do it effectively.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 6:39amMy first child had a heart condition and they didn’t know if he was going to live 2 days, 2 weeks or 2 months. My husband didn’t go out on his ship when the ship left because of that uncertaintity. I was brainwashed into thinking having him in my bed was wrong, so I lined a laundry basket and put him beside my bed. Every time I woke up ( which trust me was quite frequently) I put my hand on him to make sure he was breathing. I couldn’t feed him in bed, because he’d fall asleep. I had to feed him in only his diaper on the kitchen table to keep him awake long enough to eat. He’s 21 now. My second child ate every hour and a half, so in order to get any sleep, I nursed in bed, and fell asleep. By the time he was ready to nurse again, I’d turn over and lay him on the other side and nurse. He’s now 12. Didn’t do either of them any harm.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 7:16am.
Report Post »This is the kind of mindless crap that just drives me crazy. For the love of God, from the beginning of time people have slept with their children. Do ya think Ogett the cave girl put baby Og outside the cave? C’mon Man……………
MommyNeedsMoreCoffee
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 7:21amKind of interested in knowing the percentage of infant deaths in Milwaukee caused by co-sleeping. One incident was enough to result in this campaign? Someone has an agenda…
Report Post »MommyNeedsMoreCoffee
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 7:28amAnd another thing…we co-slept with all four of our sons. I don’t know about any other Moms, but I’ve never slept the same since I had my first child. Especially when they were little I more “rested my eyes” than slept. The slightest whisper would wake me up. Not so with my husband, he slept deeply as before. To keep him from rolling over on our little ones I built a pillow bumper between us. Sort of a speed bump. I also built another bumper at the edge of the bed. I know for me I was hyper-vigilant about safety because our baby was in bed with us…probably more than if he was in a crib where I would have simply assumed he was safe.
Report Post »Blackhawk1
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 9:34amI’ve heard a bunch about these deaths in Milwaukee. Charlie Sykes has a radio talk show and I agree with his assessment of these deaths. They should be refereed to as Drunken Mother Baby smothering not Co-sleeping deaths. In almost every baby death in Milwaukee caused by co-sleeping the mother was intoxicated and rolled over on the baby thus killing them.
It’s also not a big surprise that Milwaukee is a Liberal pit where instead of charging the drunken parent who killed their baby with involuntary manslaughter they try to send them to parenting classes.
Report Post »vtxphantom
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 11:21amThis has been a cultural problem within the black community. It has been swept under the rug by the usual suspects. No one speeks for the dead in these deaths and there has been no justice for the dead babies. As far as I know, all the deaths occured with a parent, usually an intoxicated mother. They fell asleep or passed out with the baby. The intoxicated mother rolled over onto the baby, suffucating the child. The sad irony of the advertisment is they show a white baby. It is not a white problem. This is a pc response for political reasons. No adult was prosecuted in these cases, which is pure rot. Each of these low lifes should be spending a minimum of five years in prison.
Report Post »jmiller_42
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:49pmNext we will see laws telling us how to raise our kids. Oh wait, there are already laws telling us how.
Report Post »airhead0
Posted on November 19, 2011 at 12:06pmLoriann…..same thing I did with both of our boys. I loved co sleeping with my boys especially when they were nursing. My son and I would both doze off while he was eating, This was the most relaxed, quite time, one on one bonding ever. My husband and I found that was some of our best bonding time with our sons. I remember just laying there looking at my beautiful baby and my husband, it was a very loving wonderful time. My boys are 10 & 11 now, they do not have any abnormal sleeping behaviors, they do have a loving stable home.
Report Post »W@nd@
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:35amback in the day there was not much choice in the matter it is called warmth in the winter or not enough beds to go around…2-3 or even 4 to a bed was not unheard of…more deaths are probably due to neglect of the child due to alcohol and drug use in the home….if the truth be known! the govt has destroyed about every crib manufacturer in the country with all their regulations how ever did we survive up to now? amazing how much better we all did with out all the government intervention…what ever happened to common sense?
Report Post »SueZQT
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:54amCommon sense has left the building w@nd@…jeez……
Report Post »My children now a teen and a 20′s (in grad school I might add) co-slept with us. It was easier to breast feed and it just plain worked best for us. I wouldn’t take back those bonding years for anything in the world. That was 23 years ago for my oldest and I took “heck” for it then and just like then I say this to well educated, sober and nurturing first time parents who wish to have a family bed: tell the naysayers to “MindYourOwnBusiness”!!
obfuscatenot
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 6:51amYou are spot on, I fear the REASON for the deaths is not being publicized because it wouldn’t be P.C. However, if you demonize everyone, well that’s O.K. What the heck is in the water in Wisconsin?
Report Post »Balthazor
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:31amThis story is missing the entire point. The controversy has nothing to do with the imagery of a baby sleeping with a knife. The controversy has to do with the fact that the city created two posters, one depicting a white baby and another depicting a black baby, despite the fact that 100% of co-sleeping deaths in the city have been black babies. To my knowledge not one white baby has died in a co-sleeping death.
So two things: first, how much did the city spend to create a second white baby poster when white parents are not necessary to target? And second, it’s another issue, just like urban crime, where everyone wants to look the other way rather than face the obvious racial component involved. Let’s just pretend co-sleeping deaths are happening equally among races…even when it’s not.
It’s also worth pointing out that I believe 100% of co-sleeping deaths in the city involved alcohol or drug use and overt neglect on the part of the parent(s). But let’s ignore that too, and just make it a “public health” issue.
Report Post »SueZQT
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:10amYeah, I didn’t want to sound “prejudiced”, but…alcohol and drugs are usually the cause of death of a baby in a bed with parents (wouldn’t want ot even qualify that as a “family” bed…disgraces the name)!
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 4:05amBalthazor
- well stated.
folks did a similar campaign with AIDS.. They tried very hard to show that it was not a gay disease, but the stats do not lie. The majority of people contracting are getting it through homosexual activities
Report Post »freedomofspeech
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:05amhahahaha, for real? can I say “blow it out your..” How about this, oh high and mighty ones that know all, dad, mom, kids, and dogs sleep on king size bed. One big happy family:) ( oh the horror the horror).
Report Post »Cosmos102
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:29amWe never slept with our babies in our bed. We had a king size bed, but we also provided a nice private bedroom to each of our children with an equally nice bed. Cushy, comfy…all that. We didn’t think if particularly helpful for our infant children to develop an unnatural attachment to us that would naturally extend to their toddler age, so that we would have to have sexual relations with our children in our beds with us, rather than getting them used to sleeping in a bed of their own. There, I said it.
Report Post »Vie_En_Ras
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:44amGee, Cosmos. By that assessment my child should still be clinging to my ankles since I co-slept with her from birth-2 weeks, then had her near by from 2wks through age 1 with mornings in my bed for nursing. She made the transition to her own room without any extra effort or lost sleep on my, or my husband’s part.
If a kid’s going to cling, they’re going to cling no matter what – it’s all up to the kid.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 8:50amCOSMOS102 – please. Co-sleeping certainly does not involve the parents having sex while the children are in bed with them. Do you really think the only place and time to have sex is in bed at night? Parents just have to be creative and find other places and times to do that.
Report Post »zurie
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:27amMy wife and I have a puffy bed and have co-slepped with all three of our children. And all of our kids are happy, healthy, and a couple of years ahead of their ages in development.. Of course my wife and I don’t drink or do drugs and she breast feeds.
Report Post »Libertarian B 4 Libertarians Were Cool
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:25amI let my child sleep with a loaded Colt Python, to instill early on to be prepared…. Really, this nanny state crap has got to go!
Report Post »hi
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 8:30amFunny! Ha ha!
Report Post »sawbuck
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:23amAre you out of your mind …….Mill.health dep.
SIDS…SIDS….SIDS LOOK IT UP..
You might have just made some woman or man suicidal or homicidal.
I’m going to bed…!
Report Post »capitalismrocks
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:21amA little harsh, but it is a message that needs to be strongly put across to catch parents attention. Infants are crushed and smothered when sleeping with adults, its happens and its preventable.
Report Post »Libertarian B 4 Libertarians Were Cool
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:27amYou sure have a point, so lets use taxpayer money to warn us about every single thing that is potentially stupid and fatal!
Report Post »sawbuck
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 8:23amI happen to be one of many ,who is in that group of people ,
that has had a child die ,Of “SIDS” Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
I was the Father ,I got the call at work. My son was in the bassinet ,
when I left for work that morning.
This happened Back in the 80’s
After the experts came in, autopsy and all .they had special counselors
come in and talk to us,
They said that this “kind of story” was the leading “mistake”
of children that have died of “SIDS” .People think they have
somehow
suffocated their child in the bed with them.
THANK GOD….That my son was in a bed by himself when it happened.
They told me that’s the number one symptom of a person…
That’s “watching the baby”……GUILT…!
(Accidentally killing their child by suffocation in bed with them) ,
who has had a infant die on their watch .
Unless there has been a breakthrough on SIDS, that I’m not aware of ….
Report Post »That would change everything.
But if it hasn’t … Can you imagine ….
What this story would do to that Mother or Father..?
That was not informed, or had doubts.
Libertarian B 4 Libertarians Were Cool
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 10:16amsawbuck
I’m truly saddened to hear of your story. I can’t imagine. I have also heard of SIDS being linked to vaccinations, but where is the government campaign to warn against those potential dangers? Could it be that Pharma doesn’t want that issue out?
Report Post »4GODUSAANDISRAEL
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 11:35amjust have common sense about it. Both my daughter and son slept in bed with us from the day they were born until about 2 months old for our son and about 6 months for our daughter. We used a sleeping wedge for them so they wouldn’t roll off the bed, as well as placed them between our heads, not our bodies. They adjusted to their own rooms just fine when we decided to have them sleep in their own rooms. Both are beautiful, intelligent children who have absolutely no doubts about being loved by their parents. My husband and i still love having the occasional night where both crawl into bed with us. A little cramped, but it’s the best snuggles in the world!
Report Post »angelite49
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:20amFour kids, all breast-fed, snuggled between Mom & Dad; all four slept on their tummies sometimes; all four are adults today. Imagine the human race having survived if cave-mothers had not slept with their infants close, for food and warmth. Some things do NOT need to be regulated. A parent careless enough to get stoned/drunk enough not to feel an infant struggling isn’t much of a parent. So EVERYONE is discouraged from this very natural and practical sleeping arrangement because of a few negligent individuals? If figures. (One would-be shoe-bomber and we’re all schlepping through airport lines in our socks.)
Report Post »CatCra
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:20amMaybe they did a study and found out conservatives sleep with their babies more. Maybe they are trying to further provoke conservatives. They want riots in the streets.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 6:45amI like that answer. If they’re drinking and doing drugs, they probably don’t have the child in bed with them, because they’re “making it” and probably not with the father…..there I said it.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:19amTell me, is there really people dumb enough out there to believe this.. yep.. think of the people who believed every word of Dr. Benjamin Spock.. worst information ever written as far as I am concerned.. well until now! Wake up America, the family is under seize.. God help us!
Report Post »Hobbs57
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:30amYou know what, Some times I wonder about you people on here. How many of you are Pro-life ?? How many of you are against abortion ?? Why do you care about that, it isn’t your child , is it ?? For those of you who are uneducated, this is a serious issue, not a conspiracy. It is fact based. Unfortunately, we have people in society who don‘t think right or aren’t smart enough to understand they can suffocate their child if they roll on them, or pin them so the air is pushed out, but they barely have enough muscle to suck air back in to begin with, let alone with a parent crushing them. You ever get the wind knocked out of you ?? Have you tried to talk or make a sound ?? Imagine the same thing for the baby. Yes, you may be wise enough and take the proper actions so this wouldn’t happen, but some of these innocent children, the same ones who you wouldn’t want aborted, aren’t afforded the luxury of a smart parent. Do to no choice of their own. What is really wrong with an add that warns these people of it ? What, it may save a baby or twos life ?? Big deal. I am as right wing as they get but many are being just dumb with your comments about this one.
Report Post »Patriotmom54
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 10:46amHobbs57, No one on here is saying that they want children to die. The point is that these kids are ONLY dying because the parents are on drugs or alcohol if they are dying in the bed with them. It is really almost unheard of for a person who is unimpaired to smother their child accidentally. SIDS is not caused by sleeping with parents. In fact, babies who are breastfed (& therefore often sleeping with their parents) are less likely to die of SIDS. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2003219/Breastfeeding-lowers-risk-sudden-infant-death-syndrome.html
Report Post »grannyjojo
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:15amAbsolutely ridiculous! The parents (really?) they are ATTEMPTING (bologna) to EDUCATE (righhht) are either drunk, high, stoned, (take your pick) and will not watch or even comprehend this adervisement. The “family bed” has been around since the beginning of time. There have been tragic accidents, there is nothing perfect, but it is what we parents have done since children have been born in order to protect, comfort and nurture our babies. You watch, next they will begin a campaign to make it ILLEGAL for a child to sleep with a parent. Keep your NOSES and your OPINIONS out of MY HOUSE. This is nothing short of an outrage! If they want to keep these babies safe and secure work on keeping parents SOBER and STONED when children are involved. These same “parents” will be the same ones who let their children wander away, drink something poisonous, etc. What a crock of malarkey! “Every knee will bow and every tongue confess”
Report Post »MatthewChapter24
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:59pmThis ad is the biggest crock! It most certainly is all about breaking up families and getting them dependent on the state. How many infant deaths have resulted from babies in cribs?
People need to get educated about co-sleeping and all the wonderful benefits for mom, baby and the family.
Report Post »dangmc
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:06amIt will be okay until YOU lose a family member this way.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 8:45amGood point. How many babies have died from being in bed with their parents and how many in a crib? I’d like to see the stats on that.
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:52pmWith the So Called obesity epidemic….They have a point… Have you seen Jr? No. I think he is stuck in my crack.The Dumb thing is tax money is spent to help Parents sex life more than anything.Think about it.Folks who have used the Dr. William Sears method have spoiled kids at OWS protests pooping in the streets.
Report Post »jdondo
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:49pmThe practice of co-sleeping with your infant comes down to common sense (yes I know our society lacks this quality at time). When I would have my baby in the same bed with me, I made sure he had plenty of space around him, was sleeping on his back, had a small night light so I would be more apt to wake up in case he moved, and was not on anything that would make me pass out (that included pain medication for after the delivery). Unfortunately, other parents who are not so responsible for themselves is why we must be shocked into believing this practice is wrong.
Report Post »BannedByHuffpo
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:19pmWELL CRAP!!! No wonder! And all this time I thought it was “heartburn”!!
Report Post »JSnake
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:19pmJust how many babys die this way?
Report Post »Is it that many?
How much did they spend on this ad campaign?
Just another attempt by the government to come between families, like the pertussis commercial. I hate that one.
poverty.sucks
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:10pmPagans will never cease in manufacturing ways to separate children from their parents so they will become more easily disobedient.
Report Post »Stoopy Afeist
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:37pmI mean, you can’t put the crib next to you or anything, that takes effort and buying something!
Report Post »Stoopy Afeist
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:40pmBecause not a single person has thought of maybe, oh I dunno, putting their child‘s crib next to the parent’s bed or anything… Damn Pagan fools and their health care science and studies, they don’t know anything!
Report Post »Conservophiliac
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:05amI don’t see what Pagan has to do with anything here. It is dumb to sleep in the bed with your kid, Pagan or not. I am a Christian and I think it is a really poorly thought out idea and build dependency issues and prolongs the time the child will not be able to sleep without you in the room. There is plenty of time to bond with the child all day long and you don‘t need to risk it’s life by sleeping with it. I have 4 kids, good Christian kids, none of them slept in our bed a single day when they were infants and after that only when they were just having fun like once a month to come sleep on mom and dads bed.
Report Post »4GODUSAANDISRAEL
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 11:50am@Conserve…My husband and I slept with both our kids in bed with us. Neither of our children have a dependancy issue, (ages 3 and 5). Both transitioned to their own rooms the same night we decided to have them start sleeping in their own rooms (@ 2 months and 6 months) With our daughter, it was the best way to keep her warm, we didn’t have the luxury of a furnace for the first 6 months of her life which was during the winter. By sleeping with her and sharing body heat we KEPT HER ALIVE! Also, both of our children have always slept through the night without issue. Their father and I attribute this to the fact that they know they are loved, and safe. I know a couple who thought like you, their children never slept through the night and have MAJOR esteem issues when dealing with their peers. Don’t you dare assume to be all high and mighty and say what I did was wrong when you have NO scientific facts or study numbers to back up the basis of your argument/statement.
Report Post »freemama
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:09pmWe are having way too many cosleeping deaths in Milwaukee, but it isn‘t because the moms don’t know about the evils of puffy bedding. Its because they are drunk or stoned and they take the baby to bed with them so they don’t have to get up when baby wakes in the night to feed. Then the mom is sleeping so deeply (passed out) that they end up laying on the baby and suffocating it.
This is way too politically incorrect to put in an ad, so they have developed these two ads instead. Two? Yes, of course. One with the white baby you see above, and one with a black baby. Must be PC about that too!
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:31pmBINGO!!!! (bingo to avoid the all caps defect…lol)
Report Post »waking_giant
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:08pmI really dont see the big deal about this in light of everything else that is going on. I have heard of babies dieing from parents rolling over on them during the night. In a day where young people may not be able to afford a crib this is low on my list of complainables. I bet with all the fun things to talk about during high school Sex Ed class, the subject of not rolling over on your baby is rarely discussed.
Report Post »the hawk
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:01pmWill they ever just mind their own business?
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:00pmThis is insanity, not merely shocking. It’s none the damned governments business.
Report Post »wisehiney
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 10:58pmMeat cleaver, not butcher knife.
Report Post »broker0101
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:05pmButchers use cleavers all the time. What that is not is a Chef’s knife.
Report Post »Bonesaw
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:07pm#1. Who cares if parents sleep in the same bed as their infants or not
#2. Why is there any ad at all over such a stupid thing?
#3. Who cares
#4. Is there anything in this world that people wont plss and moan about or run an ad campaign against?
I want to launch an ad campaign against the horrors of keeping your dog on a nylon leash.
Report Post »Stoopy Afeist
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:41pmYeah that’s my dinner tomorrow, I’m only missing a fork.
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 10:58pmWow! Just Wow!
Report Post »broker0101
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 10:54pmThe ad campaign has been unofficially titled “The Sandusky Initiative”.
Report Post »conbones
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:07amLmao!!!! XD that is horrible!
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