Okay guys: TMI for REAL TRUTH!!!

Mo

Mo

I am posting his because our babies are this age right now. I hope this really puts into prospective the facts of what can happen and that it isn't just something in the news. It happens to REAL moms. Please don't let this happen to our little ones in the group!!!

Washington Mom Speaks Out After 7-Month-Old Son’s Tragic Baby Blanket Death

A Washington mother is grieving the death of her 7-month-old son, Sloan, after he was found unresponsive in his crib on July 3

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A Washington mother is grieving the death of her 7-month-old son, Sloan, after he was found unresponsive in his crib on July 3.

Jordan DeRosier put her baby boy to bed in his crib with a blanket made by his great-great grandmother and another grey blanket he’d had since birth on the night of July 2. According to DeRosier, Sloan somehow pulled the blanket through his crib rails and got himself stuck in it. She found him in the morning “ice cold” with purple skin and blue lips.

“I have a lot of guilt,” DeRosier, 30, tells PEOPLE. “What could I have done better? Could I have saved him? I will never be able to shake the feeling that there was something more I could have done to prevent his death.”

JORDAN DEROSIER

DeRosier, who lives with her 32-year-old husband, Justin, and their 3-year-old son, Rowan, in Puyallup, Washington, wants other mom’s to learn from her son’s tragic death.

“That’s really the only thing giving us comfort right now,” she says. “We’ve gotten thousands of messages from parents saying that after reading about our story, they took blankets out of cribs.”

Rowan looking over Sloan in a photoshoot

JORDAN DEROSIER

Sloan’s death gained attention on social media after DeRosier posted a heart-wrenching photo and Facebook post describing the moment she discovered her son on his stomach. Initially, she hadn’t gone into detail about the circumstances of how her son died, but after she started receiving messages from concerned parents, she decided to explain what happened to inform others.

“I was the one who found Sloan. I went in to get him from his crib at 9:48am, opened the door and noticed he was on his stomach with his beloved blankie around only his head. I yanked it off, touched his back and felt that he was ice cold. I flipped him over and a blood curdling scream for Justin escaped me. His face and chest were completely purple on one side. His lips blue. His eyes closed. Justin came running in and I handed Sloan over to him. I remember the animalistic scream of ‘No!’ that came out of Justin over and over. I remember him laying Sloan on the kitchen counter, trying to perform CPR while on the phone with 911. I was still screaming,” she posted on Facebook.

“I tried to hold Sloan’s lifeless hand but his body was too stiff at that point and I couldn’t open up his fingers. Then it was time. We kissed him, covering him in tears, we gasped for air as they took him out of my reluctant arms. They unwrapped him and handed me his name blanket back. The examiner started unfolding an infant sized body bag,” she continued.

Jordan DeRosier

JORDAN DEROSIER

DeRosier tells PEOPLE it’s a horrifying moment she’ll never forget.

“Every time I close my eyes I see it,” she says. “I am trying not to be alone at all because I relive it and picture what happened.

“It’s still so fresh that every time I close my eyes it’s all I can see — him laying there. All I can see in my head is how I found him and those images have replaced the good ones, but I hope I’m able to bring to the forefront the happy memories of him when he was alive.”

JORDAN DEROSIER

The family is now staying with DeRosier’s parents as they grieve the loss of Sloan, who was “the happiest baby in the world,” she says.

“He was a dream, always smiling,” says DeRosier, who owns a children’s apparel line called Hello Cedar. “He was really advanced too, he was really close to walking and could stand on his own, he had been crawling for about a month and could pull himself up from standing to sitting. At his age, he was already doing things a 1-year-old could do and he was about the size of a 1-year-old too.”

His advanced movements and size led his mother to believe he would be safe with a blanket in the crib.

“It’s a grey area, we never really had a discussion about it,” says DeRosier. “I think part of the awareness we’re trying to spread is that it can happen at any age.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics announced last year that approximately 3,500 infants “die annually in the United States from sleep-related deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); ill-defined deaths; and accidental suffocation and strangulation.”

The AAP recommends doing the following to create a safe sleeping environment for babies:

Place the baby on his or her back on a firm sleep surface such as a crib or bassinet with a tight-fitting sheet.

Avoid use of soft bedding, including crib bumpers, blankets, pillows and soft toys. The crib should be bare.

Share a bedroom with parents, but not the same sleeping surface, preferably until the baby turns 1 but at least for the first six months. Room-sharing decreases the risk of SIDS by as much as 50 percent.

Avoid baby’s exposure to smoke, alcohol and illicit drugs.

JORDAN DEROSIER

DeRosier says her husband, who works in a distribution warehouse for Kroger, is “having an especially difficult time” dealing with the loss.

“He’s just very quiet, it has hit him so hard,” says DeRosier.

According to Patch.com, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department confirmed DeRosier’s account of Sloan’s death. The department said it is still conducting an investigation, but it “appears to be an accidental death.”

The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s tells PEOPLE Sloan’s cause of death is still being determined and won’t be released for weeks.

JORDAN DEROSIER

The parents aren’t planning a memorial or funeral service for Sloan because it’s “just too painful,” DeRosier says.

“Instead, we will have a day with the entire family to get together and remember,” she says. “But no big event.

“We have no doubt Sloan’s legacy will live on through his light, he really was a source of happiness for everyone.”

Justin and Jordan DeRosier

JORDAN DEROSIER

DeRosier says her family plans to go to grief and trauma counseling.

“Rowan understands that his brother is dead but doesn’t understand where he is,” she says. “He was there when Sloan was found and saw everything so we want him to be able to cope with this accordingly, we need to cope together as a family.

“But it really helps to know that even though our baby is gone, everyone is loving him and sharing his story and he could be helping keep other babies safe.”

479 views • 0 upvotes • 25 comments

COMMENT (25)

Ch

Posted at
Going upstairs now to check on my sleeping baby..

Mo

Mo • Jul 9, 2017
Aww.

Al

Posted at
Both these stories are totally heartbreaking and make me want to run in & scoop my daughter up for a cuddle. I am very paranoid at the moment bc my little girl sleeps with a lovey which is a muslin cloth. A square piece of cloth.. it's very thin. Do you think once she's fallen asleep at night I should take it out the cot? These things scare me so much😩 god bless these little babies! 

Al

Alicia • Jul 8, 2017
It doesn't even bear thinking about does it. It's heartbreaking! I'll be sorting it out first thing in the morning!

Al

Alicia • Jul 8, 2017
Yeah you're right! It hasn't even entered my brain until I read these stories. I think what I'm going to do is cut it down to a smaller size so it's not as long. She's still in my room at the moment & we bf but she will be moving to her own room soon so better to be safe before that happens!

Mo

Mo • Jul 8, 2017
I mean. Coming from a mom who has two older children (9/10) they had blankets and pillows AND slept on their bellies since birth. With that being said. My little one wears a sleepsack, has pacifiers in his bed, a fan going (to keep circulation and help reduce SIDS) I have two monitors on him and we still breastfeed. The only thing I didn't do as recommended was continue to co room-- but my husband made me move him out of our room before 3 months. My son has so many complications (which could be waaaaaay worse) I wouldn't do anything that I knew *could* harm him and it later be something I would never let down or let go of and be forever blamed. I guess ask yourself if you feel confident hat this would never happen to you. This mom said she thought that her baby was developmentally advanced and could handle it. I think this is a terrible terrible way to lose a child and in your own home

Ch

Posted at
Now I'm sitting here watching my son take a nap because too afraid to leave him alone. He's slept on his belly since he could roll over on his own at 3 months, but it still makes me nervous 😥

Mo

Mo • Jul 8, 2017
The same here!!!

W

Posted at
I cried when I read this a few days ago. So incredibly heartbreaking.

Mo

Mo • Jul 10, 2017
It is. It's so terrible

Ra

Posted at
This is so heart breaking. That poor woman. We almost lost our son the day he was born. I refused to put him down. I was so scared. He's 7 months now and so clingy. Constantly needs mama to hold him 24/7. I was getting annoyed because I can't ever get anything done. Now I'm just going to squeeze him and hold him a little longer.

Ra

Rachel • Jul 9, 2017
I understand. I'm thankful I can be a stay at home mom. I love having him with me.

Mo

Mo • Jul 9, 2017
Oh for sure.. I don't want anyone to watch him in fear that xyz can't watch him like a hawk like I do 🙊

Gi

Posted at
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭I think I'm gonna keep my baby in my room for 1 year now. This is why I have a video monitor, so I can constantly check on him.

Gi

Gi • Jul 9, 2017
My baby has always been in his crib. But he's still in our room.

Mo

Mo • Jul 9, 2017
Girl me too (the monitor).. but my hubby made me put him in his crib at around 3 months.

J

Posted at
I started as a bed nazi, then started letting my son have a blankie and stuffed animal snuggly for nap time which I'm always awake and near to check on him but after seeing this post on Facebook earlier today, I will ONLY put him in his wearable blanket now, no snuggly.

Mo

Mo • Jul 9, 2017
Yeah girl. It's sad and it really makes you re think what's happening and going on in our own home

Ka

Posted at
This is so heartbreaking 😢 thank you for sharing as it is important to hear so we can all learn. Especially the one with the bed next to the wall. That's something I definitely didn't know. Poor babies

Mo

Mo • Jul 8, 2017
Me either!!

Mo

Posted at
What's even worse, I just online and saw this: Trigger warning *******Public Service Announcement******Whatever you want to call it....My son would be 11. He would have celebrated his 11th birthday on July 1st. While the entire nation is celebrating, I'm silently grieving.On October 16,2008, I put my 2 year old son to bed in his big boy bed which was pushed up against the wall, complete with a bed rail on the side open to the room. I tucked him in and said goodnight. I checked on him at 1 am and saw him sleeping soundly facing the bed rail but still in the middle of the bed. I went to sleep myself.A little after 8 am, I woke up and went downstairs. He wasn't stirring yet so I took the time to put the coffee on and go to the bathroom. I went into his room to wake him and he wasn't in his bed. As I looked for him, I quickly started to panic and then found him between his bed and his wall, with just his head above the mattress. I pulled the bed away and grabbed him only to find every parents worst nightmare.My son had passed away at some time around 3 am due to positional asphyxiation. In layman terms, he became wedged between his bed and the wall and was unable to free himself. I thought I was doing everything I could to keep him safe between the baby monitor and the bed rail. Everyone I knew (my own parents included) had pushed their young children's beds up against the walls. I can still remember the stinging guilt that hit me when the coroner released the report and my son's cause of death was "positional asphyxiation secondary to unsafe sleeping arrangements". Nearly 9 years later, those words still pierce my heart.In light of a recent PSA about baby blankets, I felt like I should tell our story. If it saves just one child's life, I will be thankful. Please, make sure your young child's bed is atleast 12 inches from other pieces of furniture or walls in their room. It may not be aesthetically pleasing, but it is the safest way. He was 2. He could climb stairs up and down, he could build towers out of blocks and chase birds and was learning to swim. You never think it can happen to your child. #movethemformason❤️❤️❤️

Mo

Mo • Jul 8, 2017
This isn't my baby. This is from Facebook

Va

Vap • Jul 8, 2017
Thank you for sharing. I am so sorry for your loss. I will make sure when we get that far that his bed isn't near the wall.

Ce

Posted at
Just cried my eyes out. This is so sad

Mo

Mo • Jul 8, 2017
It really is. I could NOT imagine this ever happening to my child.