Warning Issued After Baby’s Tragic Death From ‘Bottle Propping’.
Warning Issued After Baby’s Tragic Death From ‘Bottle Propping’.
A tragic accident has prompted a warning be issued to all parents informing them of the dangers of “propping up” babies with bottles of milk.
Four month old Alex Masters, from Lincolnshire, England died in 2015 after choking on his milk after he was left unsupervised to feed in his car seat. At the time he was under the care of his babysitter who had fallen asleep on the couch.
Once the sitter Claire Sawyer woke up, she noticed the baby passed out in his seat and promptly called an ambulance. Unfortunately the baby could not not be revived.
An inquest on Friday found that Miss Sawyer placed the infant in his car seat, propped up with a blanket, and left him with a bottle, as she slept on a couch nearby.
At the time of the incident, Miss Sawyer was reportedly arrested on suspicion of murder but was never charged due to a lack of evidence.
Coroner Stuart Fisher said although it was not illegal, babies feeding from bottles should be supervised.
“It’s essential that whenever a baby is being fed, that it is supervised. I would whole-heartedly recommend that babies should not be fed while the drinking bottle is propped,” h said.
Tragically, the baby was unable to keep up with the flow of milk and a post-mortem found milk in his lungs.
The baby’s mother told the court she would never have allowed Alex to stay with Miss Sawyer if she had known he wouldn’t be supervised and while feeding.
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