Success of Mattress-Wrapping for Crib Death (SIDS) Prevention

Mattress-wrapping for crib death prevention, which has been publicized in New Zealand since 1995, has had a 100% success rate. About 800 crib deaths occurred in New Zealand during the years 1995 to 2005 inclusive, but there has been no reported crib death among the very large number of babies who have slept on mattresses wrapped in accordance with the BabeSafe mattress-wrapping protocol.

New Zealand crib death rates have fallen markedly since mattress-wrapping commenced. From 1994 to 2005 the nationwide crib death rate fell by 70%. The reduction in the Pakeha (European) ethnic crib death rate over the same period was even greater: about 85%.

These major reductions in crib death rates cannot be attributed to the crib death prevention advice publicized by the New Zealand Ministry of Health or the New Zealand Cot Death Association. There has been no material change in that advice since 1992.

Sales information relating to BabeSafe products shows that a very large number of New Zealand babies have slept on wrapped mattresses. It is also known that mattress-wrapping has been enthusiastically adopted by Pakeha (European) parents. The New
Zealand Ministry of Health has stated that mattress-wrapping is more prevalent among the Pakeha community than among other ethnic groups. Crib death is now very rare among Pakeha (European) families.

A considerable body of research has been reported which confirms the toxic gas theory for crib death (on which mattress-wrapping is based). Contrary to media publicity, the 1998 UK Limerick Report did not disprove the toxic gas theory - as a highly qualified environmental scientist has stated in the New Zealand Medical Journal. In fact, the Limerick Committee's experiments proved the fungal generation of toxic gases (forms of stibine and arsine) from crib mattress materials.

Parents, however, are more interested in the practical proof:

From 1995 to 2005 inclusive, about 800 crib deaths occurred in New Zealand. But there has been no reported crib death on a mattress wrapped in accordance with the BabeSafe protocol.