Co-sleeping dangers: Infant nearly dies after getting mother’s hair wrapped around neck

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT/Gray News) - An infant was nearly strangled this week after police say his mother’s hair got wrapped around his neck while they were sleeping together.

KAIT reports the mother awoke to her hair being pulled and her 1-year-old son screaming.

A household member used a knife to cut the hair from the baby’s neck.

The boy was taken to a hospital and transferred to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Tennessee.

Fortunately, the baby did not suffer the fate many pediatricians say they have seen in such cases.

While it might be hard to do so, Dr. Lowery Beck said parents cannot be tempted to let their babies sleep with them, no matter how much their infant cries.

“The baby is safer in their crib, sleeping on a baby surface, instead of an adult bed with an adult,” he said.

According to Beck, co-sleeping is a problem he sees with first-time parents but warns that there could be all types of accidents.

“The danger is having their airway cut off, where they are no longer breathing, or something getting around their neck strangling them. An airway obstruction will lead to death pretty quickly if it is not taken care of,” Beck said.

He said blankets can also smother an infant, or a sleeping parent could accidentally roll over the child.

The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that about 3,500 infants die from sleep-related deaths in the United States each year.

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