Cots campaign aims to cut babies' deaths

LIZ HUNT

Health Editor

A new cot death campaign aims to persuade parents to put babies to sleep on their backs with their feet at the foot of the cot to prevent them wriggling under the bedclothes and getting too hot.

Joyce Epstein, secretary general of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, said yesterday that over-heating is a recognised factor in cot deaths, and a number of victims have been found with blankets or bedding over their heads.

The "feet to foot" campaign is being backed with posters and leaflets illustrating the correct position of the child in the cot.

Ms Epstein said the campaign is part of the foundation's efforts to update parents and parents-to-be on recommendations for reducing cot deaths.

However, yesterday's initiative was linked to the launch of a "revolutionary" new cot mattress by a leading retailer. "This mattress has a uniform surface which will reassure parents that their babies can be placed at the foot of the cot," a press release from the foundation said.

A spokeswoman for the foundation rejected criticism that the campaign had less to do with cot deaths than with promotion of the new mattress. "A lot of parents have contacted us because they are confused about the type of mattress to use." She said the "feet to foot" campaign was aimed at parents of babies of nought to six months and was necessary because research has shown that between 18 and 22 per cent of cot death victims are found with bedclothes over their heads.

The number of cot deaths was reduced by half following the Government's "Back to Sleep" campaign launched by television personality, Anne Diamond in December 1991. However, 10 babies still die from cot deaths every week.