Free bassinet scheme aims to beat cot deaths

Mary Lagahetau's 3-week-old baby, Kyle Diamond, sleeps comfortably in his new bassinet, provided free of charge courtesy of cot death groups. Picture / Dean Purcell

Baby Kyle sleeps soundly, snug in his new bassinet, the only sound his easy breathing.

Born three weeks ago, Kyle Diamond Lagahetau Palu has slept in the bassinet since he arrived at his home in Flat Bush, South Auckland.

It was lent through a scheme to encourage families not to go without a bassinet, even if they cannot afford to buy one.

The scheme was set up by sudden infant death syndrome (Sids) groups because of concerns about the risks of babies sharing beds with adults.

An Auckland coroner, Murray Jamieson, said in the Herald this month parents should make a baby's bed out of a banana box rather than take small babies into their bed.

He spoke out because eight of the 29 infant deaths reported to Auckland coroners this year had involved babies under 12 months' old "co-sleeping" with another person, mostly parents.

Paediatrician Dr Shirley Tonkin, of the Cot Death Association, organised the free bassinets after finding in a 1990s study that the cost of a bassinet was the reason why people chose to have their babies with them in bed.

"Babies wriggle, they move," she said. "When the parent is asleep, they are unaware of what the baby is doing. If people choose to do it [co-sleeping], it's their choice, but they should know it's dangerous."

The Health Ministry says co-sleeping can be safe if its guidelines, which include avoiding the practice if the mother smokes or smoked during pregnancy, are followed.

Dr Tonkin said the free scheme, financed by the William and Lois Manchester Trust, had lent out more than 120 bassinets since it started last year.

The portable bassinets are fabric with a timber base and hang from a metal frame. They cost about $90 - she sources them wholesale - after they have been fitted with a mattress and a colourful drape. Bassinets can cost $200 to $250 retail.

Kyle's mother, Mary Lagahetau, said the bassinet she used for her second and third babies was broken. She tried fixing it but was unhappy with the repair. She was "panicking". His birth was nearly due.

She intended to buy a new one but heard about the free scheme, which she accessed through the Plunket Society.

"I would have gone out of my way to [afford one]. It makes me so angry, people not having a bed for their baby."

Sleeping easy

* Bassinets are supplied through the Cot Death Association.

* Families who cannot afford their own are eligible.

* The scheme aims to avoid babies sleeping in bed with an adult.

* Some groups consider it dangerous for babies to sleep in the same bed as an adult.

* The Health Ministry says it can be safe if its guidelines are followed.