Nappy sack safety

7th February 2012 - A campaign which began in Cornwall to raise awareness of the dangers to babies of nappy sacks, is being rolled out nationwide.

Most people know to keep plastic bags away from children but fewer are aware of the potentially fatal dangers posed by a nappy sack.

Katrina Phillips, chief executive at The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) said in a press statement: "Nappy sacks are seen as an essential piece of parenting kit so parents don't realise that they are as dangerous to babies as plastic bags are to small children. They are often kept nearby, within easy reach, for nappy changing.

"This campaign will remind parents that nappy sacks need to be kept out of reach of babies, particularly in the bedroom."

She added: "Young babies are most at risk because they naturally grasp things and pull them to their mouths, but then find it difficult to let go. Nappy sacks are small and flimsy, and cling to babies’ faces so they can’t breathe."

National kit

The campaign kit includes a poster featuring a teddy bear with a nappy sack, a safety advice leaflet, an educational DVD and a safety warning designed to fit inside the Child Health Record/Red Book.

Founder of the awareness campaign, Beth Beynon, of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, is hoping there will eventually be a change to the packaging and design of all nappy sacks. She said in a press release: "While we will continue our efforts to bring about changes to the packaging and the bags themselves at a European level, we feel this issue is too important to wait.

"By rolling it out through public health teams at a national level we hope to take this campaign out to communities to reach parents, grandparents and carers in the hope of preventing any more babies from needlessly dying."

Already ANEC, the European consumer voice in standardisation, has recommended that a more detailed warning be added to nappy bag packaging to deter parents from storing the sacks where babies are sleeping or leaving the sacks within their reach. It also wants to see the bags kept on a roll instead of packaged singly, making it more difficult for a single sack to be accessed by a baby.