Two parents from Wisconsin are warning others after their 5-month-old baby was nearly suffocated while co-sleeping with them. Breanna and Ezell Brown are sharing their story after their son Karvion woke up blue in the face at 5 a.m. while co-sleeping with them. Doctors reportedly confirmed their son was without oxygen for seven minutes and may have suffered 75% brain cell death because of being without oxygen for so long. Karvion also may be left blind and unable to move after the incident.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 3,400 infant deaths that occur per year are classified as sudden unexpected infant deaths, or SUIDS. One of the three most common types is accidental strangulation and suffocation in bed. Karvion’s mother Breanna, is now begging other parents to “lay them in their cribs, please,” per Metro.
The baby woke up in the middle of the night, and like many new parents, they were just tired and put him in the bed with them.
The mother of three reportedly said their 5-month-old son was lying on top of the covers between her and her husband, Ezell, early in the morning on May 3. After he woke up crying, he was removed from his crib and placed in the bed between both parents, per Metro.
“Every parent’s worst nightmare happened to us,” Karvion’s mother, Breanna, wrote on the GoFundMe page she created. “Everyone thinks/says there’s no way something like this could happen to them. We thought so too. We have a 4 year old daughter and a 1 year old daughter. So we swore we knew what we were doing.”
Breanna said Karvion woke up crying and she was tired, so she passed him off to her husband. “When Karvion woke me up I was really tired, so I nudged my husband and said, ‘can you feed him? I just need a couple of minutes’. When Ezell woke me up later, he was on the end of the bed screaming, ‘Karvion’s not breathing,'” Metro reported. She called 911 for an ambulance.
‘Lay them in their cribs please,’ the mother is pleading after finding out their baby might be blind and possibly paralyzed.
Breanna said before the medical team arrived, their son was getting bluer and her husband was trying to help him breathe.
“Right before the EMT walked up the steps, my husband blew in his mouth and he started gurgling and his eyes started rolling. He was flopping back in Ezell’s arms. You could just see his lips getting bluer and bluer by the second,” she said according to Metro.
She added that he probably got tangled up in the covers while trying to get his bottle. “He was probably trying to kick his legs and move his arms and wiggle for his bottle, so I’m thinking while he’s doing that he pulled his cover over his head and got wrapped in it,” she explained.
Breanna also shared that they have been in the PICU since May 3. Karvion’s breathing tube was removed on May 21, but sadly, he hasn’t been very responsive. “Right now, he hasn’t moved or opened his eyes or made any noises since they removed the breathing tube on May 21st,” she told Metro.
The Browns’ baby boy may have lost his sight and mobility, and they don’t want other parents to go through the same thing. “As cute and cuddly as they look, love them enough to put them in their beds. If you truly do deeply love them, give them a kiss and a hug and lay them in their cribs, please,” she urged, according to the news outlet.
SIDS is a leading cause of death for infants younger than 12 months old.
The CDC reported 1,389 infant deaths due to SIDS in 2020, with 905 deaths due to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.
In order to lower the risk of SIDS, the agency recommends a safe sleeping environment such as a crib or bassinet and to place babies on their backs every time they sleep, per Healthy Children. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against bed sharing or co-sleeping, according to Healthy Children.
Breanna admitted that she and Ezell both feel guilty over the incident with their baby boy and that she wishes they hadn’t co-slept.
“Ezell is feeling the guilt really bad, and I keep telling him not to. We’re both equally to blame. I used to sleep with Karvion all the time, but never in the middle of us. But now going back and looking at it, I shouldn’t have done it from the get-go – we never should have been used to that,” she said, according to Metro.
More from CafeMom: What Every Parent Should Know About the AAP’s Updated SIDS Recommendation
Their baby is still being treated for seizures, and they are raising money for his treatment.
Breanna explained they have had to drive over an hour to the hospital and had to borrow a car, because their car broke down and Ezell lost his job shortly after the incident. An update on the GoFundMe page posted by Breanna on June 14 indicated that thanks to generous support, the family was able to fix the car and get their son a new stroller and some new clothes after he was discharged.
Breanna wrote, “I couldn’t wait till the day he got released so I could let the warm sun kiss him and take him for a walk with his sisters. And now I’m able to do that with a fancy stroller that he’s fully comfortable in.” She added, “Along with our vehicle running, it might not be 100% perfect but it starts and is getting us around for now and that’s all that matters. I can’t thank yall enough.”
Hopefully Karvion will make a full and complete recovery and his parents sharing their story will help other parents prevent this from happening to their children.
