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New Target Audience For Cradle Cincinnati: Men

Bill Rinehart
/
WVXU
Some Cradle Cincinnati partners show off the signage for the new education campaign.

Cradle Cincinnati is trying to reach a new audience with its message of safe sleep for babies. Dads are the target of a new campaign to teach that infants should sleep alone, on their backs and in a crib. Men are three times more likely to think a baby is safer sleeping in a bed with parents than women are, according to a Cradle Cincinnati telephone survey.

Kevin Clayton with Mercy Health says he's been there. "I actually have pictures of my daughters lying on my chest, going to sleep, and we thought that was cute. The reality is I was putting my children at risk."

The campaign will try to teach men the ABCs of sleep for babies. Those are guidelines developed to reduce infant deaths. "A baby is safest when he or she needs to sleep, when that baby is alone, and on their back. That's the 'B' in all of this. And then the 'C' in the ABCs of safe sleep is in a crib. The 'C' doesn't mean on a couch," says Todd Portune. The Hamilton County commission president is one of the founders of Cradle Cincinnati.

Kevin Clayton with Mercy Health says the hospital system and Cradle Cincinnati will work on an education program, and not just for the public. "We know that data would suggest that there are different population groups that are affected by this problem that we have. We want to make sure that we are identifying what are the skills and competencies that are required by our caregivers."

Other aspects of the Cradle Cincinnati public awareness campaign include using billboards in neighborhoods where the risk of sleep-related infant deaths has been high, and radio ads.

Bill Rinehart started his radio career as a disc jockey in 1990. In 1994, he made the jump into journalism and has been reporting and delivering news on the radio ever since.