ANDERSON COUNTY, SC (FOX Carolina) – An Anderson County woman shares her heartbreaking story after her baby died from unsafe sleeping. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics 3,500 people suffer the same fate every year in the United States

To learn more about the ABCs of safe sleep and how a baby should nap, Click here.

“It’s a memory book, a keepsake book,” Tiffany Wilson said.

She remembers the first ultrasound when she learned she was having a baby girl. And the day his precious Karley was born.

“She was so small that her outfit swallowed her whole,” Wilson said.

She keeps four months of memories that are so dear to her.

“I kept everything that was dirty because I didn’t want to forget the smell of it,” Wilson said.

Karley died 21 years ago while sleeping in a bed with another family member.

“I was woken up by screaming and screaming,” Wilson said. “It was horrible. I remember going into the den and I was crying out to God, “Please don’t take her, please don’t take her.” »

She never thought her baby could die because of poor sleeping habits.

“Oh no, I slept with all my kids,” Wilson said. “All the mothers I knew, great mothers, slept with their children.”

Karley’s brother and sister were two and four years old at the time.

“The first few years, I was really scared,” Wilson said. “I watched them sleep at night.”

She now wants to share her painful story because she knows that other mothers are experiencing this tragedy.

“There has been an exponential increase in the number of infants who have died due to unsafe sleep,” said Anmed Health pediatrician Dr. Deadra Clark. “In Anderson County, we have had three deaths since March.”

According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Human ServicesIn preschools, six children die every month in South Carolina due to poor sleep habits. That’s the equivalent of three kindergarten classes a year, students who will never walk through the classroom door. About 65% of babies who died slept in a bed, sofa or chair.

“We want to think this can’t happen to me, this won’t happen to me,” Wilson said. “I know I won’t go back to the baby. Well no, that’s not the case. You don’t know what you’re doing in your sleep. And you may not move, but the baby is moving. But they can move slightly and get into a position where it takes their breath away.

Dr. Clark says a baby’s anatomy can make them more prone to choking than older children.

“Their skulls are large, so it doesn’t take much for their head to fall and the airway to collapse,” Dr. Clark said.

A national movement called “Succeed in the nursery challenge” helps inform caregivers about dangerous objects in a crib. Prisma Health HealthySteps specialist Shannon Rogers helps educate mothers when they come to doctor’s appointments.

“Parents find it amusing, but some are also surprised,” Rogers said. “Basically everything here needs to be removed to make it a safe sleeping environment.”

Wilson says the hardest part is watching her older children graduate and become adults. It’s a journey Karley will never experience.

“I healed,” Wilson said. “I can help others. And give them advice, but it’s one thing that really doesn’t go away.

DSS has published the following on the ABCs of Safe Sleep.

ALONE: Infants should sleep alone in their crib, without blankets, pillows, toys, people, pets, or other objects that could cause suffocation.

BACK: Infants should sleep on their backs as this significantly reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Sleeping on your stomach or side is not recommended.

CRADLE: Infants should sleep in a bassinet on a flat, firm mattress and a fitted sheet.

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