Sicherer Babyschlaf in der Werbung

Safe sleep campaigns have led to a sharp drop in the number of sudden infant deaths since the 1990s. Nevertheless, there are still avoidable cases. Unfortunately, parents are consciously and subconsciously influenced in their baby sleep product purchase decisions by media and advertising.

The online websites of large pharmacy chains (DM, Rossmann, Müller), a baby food manufacturer (Hipp) and two online stores (Baby-Walz and Amazon) were evaluated for their adherence to recommendations for the prevention of sudden infant death syndrome in the marketing of baby products.

In total, the advertisements of 185 products were analysed. Of these, 142 (77%) showed awake babies and 42 (23%) showed sleeping babies, of which 33 (18%) were lying down. The majority of babies that were lying down were sleeping in the supine position (67%). A recommended sleeping bag was shown for only 12% of babies, whereas one third slept with a blanket or pillow. Stuffed animals were to be found in the immediate sleep environment of almost a quarter of the babies. Bedsharing, i.e. sharing the bed with another person, was depicted for two products. A pacifier was shown in five products.

Unfortunately, baby products often show an unsafe sleep environment and position for babies, which may lead to incorrect engrams for parents. Overall, there is a clear need to improve the presentation of safe baby sleep in advertising.