BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – New parents are bombarded with misleading posts and images about what’s safe when it comes to infant sleep. That’s according to a new investigation by Consumer Reports. Information shared by social media influencers, AI chatbots, and even retailers may be confusing parents and putting babies at risk.
Shayna Raphael’s journey to becoming a sleep safety advocate began with a tragedy, when her daughter Claire died at daycare, sleeping on a soft mattress meant for adults. Shayna says, “Claire’s death absolutely was preventable. Had she been in a safe sleep environment, had she been in the crib that we thought she was sleeping in, she would still be here today.”
Shayna set up a nonprofit in her daughter’s name, the Claire Bear Foundation. She posts safety tips and answers questions on Instagram and TikTok. But not everyone on social media has safety as their top priority. Recent studies found more than nine out of ten infant sleep images shared on Instagram were unsafe, based on long-established scientific safe-sleep guidelines. This includes babies sleeping on their stomachs, or with pillows, blankets, or stuffed animals…