The father of a seven-week-old boy who died after being breastfed in a baby carrier is calling for increased safety standards around baby slings.
James Alderman, who was known as Jimmy, was being breastfed “hands-free” within a baby carrier worn by his mother while she moved around their home.
Jimmy’s father, George Alderman, told Sky News: “Baby slings are sold as being a lifesaver, allowing you to get on with your business while your baby’s safe and close to you, but in this instance, we had our baby close, but not safe.”
The inquest into his death heard Jimmy was in an unsafe position too far down the sling.
Mr Alderman said that while much of the available advice around slings focused on them not being too tight, few people were aware of the danger of the sling not being tight enough, and so allowing the baby to slump.
Explaining what medical experts think happened to Jimmy, he said: “After he’d been feeding, he fell asleep and then he slumped forwards. Then, because his head was covered and he had his chin against his chest, he was facing downwards.
“Nothing was covering his face, but because of the position he was in, that meant that not enough oxygen was going into his lungs because he was small and not fully developed, and that’s why he stopped breathing.”
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Resuscitation was started straight away, but Jimmy died three days later on 11 October 2023.
Mr Alderman said that while many brands of baby carriers said they were safe for breastfeeding, the lack of advice around how to safely do it meant that parents were “left to work it out by themselves”.
He said that during Jimmy’s inquest, it also became clear that there was no mandatory safety standard for baby carriers.
‘How can a bag of sand represent a baby?’
While items such as baby car seats are heavily regulated in the UK, the standards are voluntary around slings and carriers, meaning companies can perform different tests in different ways.
Mr Alderman said: “Some use weighted dolls, some use bags of sand. How a bag of sand can accurately represent a baby, I just don’t know.”
He said while there was currently a European working group looking at setting up a standardised mandatory test for baby carriers (including the UK) it could take three years or more to complete.
Mr Alderman said he was aware of at least two other cases in the UK and Ireland linked to slings where young infants had died.
Advice completely absent or ‘unhelpful’
At Jimmy’s inquest, senior coroner for west London, Lydia Brown, said there was insufficient information to inform parents of the safe positioning of young babies within carriers, particularly in relation to breastfeeding.
In her report, she criticised the lack of information on the risk of a baby “slumping”, and failure to advise that breastfeeding an infant under four months “hands-free” was unsafe due to risk of suffocation.
She also criticised the total lack of guidance from the NHS and said the “tips” provided on the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) website were “unhelpful”.
She concluded that “action should be taken to prevent future deaths”.
Copies of the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths Report were sent to the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care.
‘Positive change from something so awful’
Mr Alderman said that while questioning “Why has this happened to us?”, the family were keen to do what they could to stop other families going through the same experience.
Mr Alderman said: “If we can’t do something to stop it happening, to make sure there is a positive change and, if needs be, for the government to step in and make sure there’s a mandatory test for all of these things, then that is something that can come from something that’s been so awful.”
He said fundraising for Jimmy’s Cuddle, a charity they set up to support charitable causes in Jimmy’s memory, was a good way to not only raise funds, but also raise awareness and share memories.
He said: “Jimmy only had seven weeks with us and we want to keep his memory going for longer than that, and give him some sort of life that he never got.”
Mr Alderman and his wife Ellie are expecting their third child in early February. The couple also have a three-year-old son called Arthur.
Anyone dealing with the loss of a baby can call the Lullaby Trust on 0808 802 6868 or email [email protected]
