A leading expert on SIDS has raised significant safety concerns about the cardboard baby box scheme which has seen free starter packages given out to thousands of new parents across Scotland.
The boxes were launched in a nationwide scheme last year, with Scotland’s chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, commenting that the box; “is designed to provide a safe sleep space for babies and has been awarded British Safety standard accreditation as a crib for domestic use”.
Tens of thousands of the boxes – which include a mattress, blankets, a digital thermometer, clothes, books and bathing products – have been gifted so far.
Peter Blair, a specialist from the University of Bristol and a member of an expert panel advising Scottish ministers on the project, has now disputed the claim that the box is suitable to be used as a crib for domestic use.
He said there was no evidence the boxes were safe or reduced cot deaths and urged the sceme to stop claiming they are a safe sleeping space except in rare cases or emergencies.
“[They] shouldn’t be advocating infants sleep in these boxes unless there isn’t anything else available,” said Peter, who is also chair of the International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death (Ipsid), a body that includes the Lullaby Trust, a charity specialising in cot deaths.
He sent the Scottish government a draft statement backed by Ipsid’s board that it is planning to publish later this month, which says “baby boxes should not be promoted as a public health strategy without the evidence being in place.”
At the same time, the British Standards Institution (the UK’s official national product safety standards body) has highlighted the fact that there is no standard that covers baby boxes at present.
“Securing accreditation is the responsibility of manufacturers and [we have] only included items in the box that have the relevant safety certificates,” said a statement from the Scottish government. “The baby box and its contents meet all relevant safety standards in place at the time of its introduction and we will ensure that [it] complies with the new standard once it is developed.”
