FAQ

What is crib death?

Crib death is the most common cause of death among infants 1 month to 1 year of age. Ninety percent of all crib deaths occur among babies under 6 months of age. In most cases of crib death, the baby has been put down to sleep in his/her crib and later found lifeless, with no sign of illness or physical struggle.

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What is the cause of crib death?

Dr Sprott states with certainty that the cause of crib death is very toxic nerve gases which can be generated from mattresses and certain other bedding used in babies' cribs. These toxic nerve gases are generated when compounds of phosphorus, arsenic and/or antimony in the bedding combine with household fungus which commonly grows in bedding.

These gases (which are all anticholinesterase agents), when inhaled by a baby or absorbed through the baby’s skin in a lethal dose, shut down the baby’s central nervous system, stopping breathing and then heart function. Thus the cause of crib death is not medical – it is the result of environmental poisoning. The baby can be fatally poisoned without waking and without physical struggle.

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How can crib death be prevented?
The solution is to prevent exposure of babies to the gases by wrapping mattresses in accordance with a specified protocol and ensuring that bedding used on top of the wrapped mattresses is not capable of the gas generation concerned.

Since late 1994 mattress-wrapping has been publicized nationwide in New Zealand. Prior to the commencement of mattress-wrapping, New Zealand had the highest crib death rate in the world (2.1 deaths per 1000 live births). Following the adoption of mattress-wrapping the New Zealand nationwide crib death rate has fallen by 62% - and there has been no reported crib death among those babies who have slept on mattresses wrapped in accordance with Dr Sprott’s mattress-wrapping protocol. Among the ethnic group most likely to wrap babies' mattresses (New Zealand Europeans) the crib death rate has fallen by around 76%.

These major reductions in New Zealand crib death rates cannot be attributed to orthodox crib death prevention advice (e.g. face-up sleeping). There has been no material change in that advice in New Zealand since 1992.

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Is there published research about the toxic gas theory?

A considerable amount of research relating to the toxic gas theory has been published in peer-reviewed medical and other scientific journals. For a list of this research, visit www.cotlife2000.co.nz/research.htm

Mattress-wrapping for crib death prevention is supported by wider research than supported the introduction of various items of orthodox crib death prevention advice (including face-up sleeping).

The toxic gas theory for crib death explains every risk factor which medical researchers associate with crib death. Every step in the toxic gas theory for crib death has been proved. Furthermore, the ten-year New Zealand experience provides practical proof that mattress-wrapping prevents crib death.

In 2002 a German environmental medicine practitioner, Dr Hannes Kapuste, published the statistical results of the New Zealand mattress-wrapping campaign: "Giftige Gase im Kinderbett" ("Toxic Gases in Infants' Beds”), Zeitschrift fuer Umweltmedizin (Journal of Environmental Medicine) (2002, No. 44) 18-20.

The "p" factor for the mattress-wrapping intervention was calculated by Dr Kapuste (in collaboration with the University of Munich) as being:

p = less than 1.9 x 10^-22

It is usual in medical circles to regard a "p" of less than 0.01 (10^-2) as sound proof of a scientific proposition; and if the "p" is less than 0.001 (10^-3), that is regarded as virtually certain proof.

1.9 x 10^-22 (the "p" factor for mattress-wrapping) can be written as: 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,000,19

Put another way, the statistical proof that mattress-wrapping prevents crib death is one billion billion times the level of proof which medical researchers generally regard as constituting certain proof of a scientific proposition. Not surprisingly, therefore, Dr Kapuste described the toxic gas theory for crib death and mattress-wrapping for crib death prevention as having "overwhelming reliability".

In 2004 the results of the New Zealand mattress-wrapping campaign were published by Dr Sprott in the Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine (September 2004) 14(3), 221-232.

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What does Dr Sprott say about orthodox crib death prevention advice?

1) Don't smoke around your baby.

Recent history refutes any suggestion that smoking causes crib death, says Dr Sprott. Smoking was very common in Britain in the 1930s and 1940s, but crib death was virtually non-existent. Smoking is prevalent in present-day Russia and Japan, but the crib death rates are low. No cause-and-effect relationship between smoking and crib death has been established – they are socio-economic parallels. Put another way, smoking is more common among poorer people, and so is crib death. But it does not follow that smoking is therefore a crib death risk factor.

2) Don't bedshare with your baby if you also smoke or smoked during pregnancy.

Misleading advice, says Dr Sprott. The risk posed by bedsharing does not arise from smoking – it arises from the mattress. Adults' mattresses very frequently contain the same chemical and fungi as babies' mattresses, and therefore they
can generate the same toxic gas/es. (For physiological reasons adults are not put at risk by this gas generation in mattresses.)

3) Sleep your baby with feet to the foot of the crib.

According to Dr Sprott, this practice affords no protection whatsoever against crib death. Any area on an unwrapped mattress where a baby sleeps is a potential source of toxic gas, since that is the area which becomes warm and moist (promoting the fungal activity which can cause gas generation).

4) Sleep your baby face up.

Face-up sleeping is a partial preventive against crib death. This is because the gases which cause crib death are more dense than air. They diffuse away towards the floor, and therefore a baby sleeping face up is less likely to inhale them.

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What about the theory that crib death has a number of causes (the "multifactorial" theory)?

Clearly wrong, says Dr Sprott. At this point he draws attention to a highly significant piece of information about crib death: the crib death risk rises from the first baby in a family to the second, and rises again from the second baby to the third, and so on. Babies of solo parents have a very high crib death rate.

Dr Sprott explains that the rising rate of crib death from one sibling to the next destroys every medical and physiological theory for the cause of crib death.

* For example, some researchers think crib death is caused by babies re-breathing their exhaled carbon dioxide. However, all babies exhale a similar amount of CO2, regardless of whether they are first, second or later babies. Therefore, the rising rate of crib death from one sibling to the next refutes the CO2 theory.

* Some researchers think crib death is related to the size of babies' airways. However, for this theory to be valid would require second babies' airways to be smaller than those of first babies; and third babies' airways to be smaller than those of second babies; and so on. Clearly, therefore, the airways theory
is wrong, because the size of babies' airways is not related to birth order.

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What is the explanation for the rising rate of crib death from one sibling in a family to the next?

Crib death is caused by gases generated in mattresses - and many parents re-use mattresses from one baby to the next. If a mattress contains any of the chemicals concerned and fungi have become established in the mattress during previous use by another baby, generation of toxic gas commences sooner and in greater volume when the mattress is re-used.

This accounts for the rising rate of crib death from one sibling to the next. It also accounts for the very high crib death rate among babies of solo parents, who for economic reasons are more likely to sleep their babies on previously used mattresses which they have acquired secondhand.
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What about the claim that vaccination causes crib death?
Vaccination is not the cause of crib death. However, studies indicate that if a baby is sleeping on an unwrapped mattress, recent vaccination is a crib death risk factor. The way in which vaccination increases the risk of crib death on unwrapped mattresses is as follows:

Any circumstance which reduces the efficiency of a baby's immune system, or which causes the baby to have a higher than normal body temperature, will make the baby more likely to succumb to the gaseous poisoning which causes crib death. If the temperature in a baby’s crib increases by 3C (say from 37C to 40C), the rate of gas generation increases by 10 to 20 times.

Since, therefore, vaccination can adversely affect the immune system (temporarily) and increase body temperature (due to the minor infection caused by the vaccine), it can make a baby more susceptible to the cause of crib death.

However, if the baby's mattress is correctly wrapped for crib death prevention and the correct bedding used, there is no risk of crib death associated with vaccination, since the wrapping prevents exposure to the gas/es concerned. Therefore, the fact that a baby sleeping on a correctly wrapped mattress has been recently vaccinated becomes irrelevant as regards crib death. The baby may experience the common physical symptoms following vaccination, but crib death will not ensue.

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Could wrapping a baby’s mattress in a BabeSafe cover cause a baby to sweat or overheat?

If sweating/overheating occurs on a BabeSafe-wrapped mattress, it is not caused by the mattress wrap. As a matter of thermodynamics, the layer of polyethylene co-polymer which comprises the cover is so thin in relation to the thickness of the mattress that it has no measurable effect on the rate of heat transfer from the baby to the mattress itself. Put another way, the overheating is not caused by the BabeSafe cover.

If sweating/overheating occurs on a wrapped mattress, it is the result of too much bedding on top of the baby, or too much clothing on the baby, or overheating of the baby’s room.

Babies have a GREATER capacity than adults to retain their body heat, and LESS capacity than adults to cool themselves down. Therefore babies should be lightly dressed for sleep, and their required bedding is less than an adult requires to keep warm.

When sleeping in their cribs:

(a) Babies should sleep in loose baby gowns or pajamas.

(b) They should not sleep in any item of clothing which encloses their feet (such as a jumpsuit or socks) or which encloses their hands.

(c) They should not wear bonnets or helmets, since much of their body heat loss (which is essential) occurs via the head.

(d) It is fine to wrap a baby in a pure cotton diaper or pure cotton sheeting or a pure cotton blanket.

In respect of bedding used on top of a baby:

(a) Babies should use no more than two pure wool or pure cotton overblankets;

(b) In a centrally-heated home, one pure wool or pure cotton overblanket may be sufficient.

Note: The overnight temperature in a baby's room should not exceed 17-18 degrees Celsius.

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How can I learn more about the mattress-wrapping campaign for crib death prevention?

Email questions to post@safebaby.no

Call us at 0047 3551 8257

Read Dr. Sprott’s book ‘The Cot Death Cover-Up?’. This book is available for purchase, see our products page

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is crib death?

What is the cause of crib death?

Is there published research about the toxic gas theory?

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What about the theory that crib death has a number of causes (the "multifactorial" theory)?

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What is the explanation for the rising rate of crib death from one sibling in a family to the next?

How can I learn more about the mattress-wrapping campaign for crib death prevention?