Will putting babies to sleep in a simple cardboard box reduce the risk of cot death – which kills more than 200 infants under one every year in the UK?
That’s the controversial claim made by some to support a scheme where new parents are given a free ‘baby box’ containing, at its most basic, a fitted mattress, cover and sheet. It could also include sleepsuits, bibs, creams, ear thermometers and toys.
The NHS in Scotland is already running such a scheme, while a handful of hospitals in England are piloting it.
Some suppliers claim that the boxes can help to reduce infant mortality rates, others wrongly state the cardboard boxes are safer than a Moses basket or cot and campaigners fear parents are being misled when there is no published research to support this.
So why are we even considering the notion of babies sleeping in boxes? The idea has been imported from Finland where, since the late thirties, all new parents have been issued with a free cardboard box for babies to sleep in — packed with clothes, nappies, a mattress and bedding.
They wanted to provide all new mothers, rich or poor, with a dry, comfortable and convenient place for their babies to sleep.
