We are in an era of civilisation where everything is being made easier, even some parenting duties. And this is a good thing. If there’s anything out there that makes your work easier as a parent, by all means, go for it. But not propping up your baby’s bottle. The practice is tempting and at one point or the other, some parents have done it because of the way it frees their hands. In fact, baby bottle propping can lead to death
For those who are not familiar with the term, to prop up is to use a blanket or a pillow to hold your baby’s bottle in position while he or she feeds. Most parents do it so that they can free their hands and use them for other things instead. It looks like a win-win situation but it’s not. Apart from the fact that you lose the opportunity to bond further with your baby, the practice carries enormous risk to the child.
Source: Scarymommy
Why you should not prop up your baby’s bottle
The American Academy of Pediatrics warns against the act of propping up your baby’s bottle. You run a few huge risks doing it, which includes your baby’s death by choking.
“Not only will you miss the opportunity to bond with her while she feeds,” AAP says, “but there’s also a danger that she’ll choke or the bottle will slip out of position. Propping the bottle also increases the risk of ear infections. We do not recommend devices to hold a bottle in a baby’s mouth—they could be dangerous.”
Further warnings of danger have come from Phoenix Children’s Hospital. They say that propping up your baby’s bottle can lead to tooth decay. And this warning extends to parents who may not be propping but let their babies fall asleep with a bottle in their mouth.
“Propping up a bottle can make baby’s teeth decay,” the hospital explains. “When your baby starts to fall asleep, he or she doesn’t swallow so often. The liquid sits in the baby’s mouth, and the teeth are coated with food that helps germs rot the teeth.”
Chloe Master’s Baby Died From Choking On A Bottle
If these expert warnings haven’t done enough to deter you from the practice of propping, then the tragic experience of Chloe Masters, an 18-year-old mum, may have a different effect. In 2015 Chloe lost her four-month-old son, Alex. Overnight, Chloe had left her son in the care of his godmother Claire Sawyer because of serious back pain. But tragedy struck when Claire fell asleep and left Alex with a bottle on the sofa.
According to the BBC, upon the death of Alex, Chloe asked Claire what happened and she said she fell asleep and left Alex with a bottle of milk on the sofa. But the story took a different turn at the hearing. Claire said the incident occurred in the car seat, where Alex was feeding on a bottle propped up with a blanket. Thirty minutes later she woke up and found Alex leaning over his car seat, not breathing.
However, since the incident in 2015, it took a long time for the coroner confirm that Alex had died from choking on the milk from his bottle. The coroner told Lincolnshire Live, “It is always, for me, despite doing this for many years, always a great tragedy dealing with an inquest of a baby’s death. What I would say, which I am not saying to lecture, perhaps what has come out of this is the great danger of bottle propping.”
There have been devices that are taking the places of blankets and pillows in the practice of propping. Patents should know that those devices don’t make propping any safer.
Read more: New research suggests direct latching is better for a baby than pumped milk
