Sharing a bed with a newborn increases the risk
of sudden infant death syndrome fivefold, research
claims.
The risk applies even if parents avoid tobacco,
alcohol and drugs - other factors firmly linked to
cot deaths.
The BMJ Open research compared nearly 1,500
cot deaths with a control group of more than 4,500
parents.
Current guidance in the UK is that parents
should decide where their baby sleeps, but says
the safest option is in a crib or cot in the same
room.
No consensus
Many other countries, such as the US and the
Netherlands, go further and say parents should
not share a bed with their baby for the first three
months of his or her life.
Prof Bob Carpenter, from the London School of
Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, carried out the
analysis and says the UK should now follow suit
and "take a more definitive stance against bed-
sharing for babies under three months".
The government said it had asked the public
health watchdog NICE to urgently examine its
guidance on co-sleeping in light of this new study.
Unicef UK is concerned that any guidance that
recommends the total avoidance of bed-sharing
could end up forcing parents into much riskier
practices such as feeding in arm-chairs or sofas
where the risk of suffocating the baby is far
higher.
Others question how robust the latest analysis is.
Prof Carpenter maintains avoiding bed-sharing
would save lives - by his calculations, 120 of the
300 cot deaths that occur in the UK each year.
In his analysis, one or both parents had been
sleeping with their child at the time of death in a
fifth of cases.
Only one in every 10 parents in the control group
said they had shared a bed with their baby.
Even in very low-risk breastfed babies, where
there were no risk factors for sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS) other than that they had
slept in their parents' bed, 81% of cot deaths in
infants under three months of age could have been
prevented by not bed sharing.
Prof Carpenter says he is not suggesting that
babies should be banned from being in the parents'
bed for comfort and feeding.
This has been investigated in previous studies and
has not been found to be a risk factor, provided
the infant is returned to his or her own cot for
sleep.
But he says evidence shows that babies are safest
sleeping alone in their own cot in the same bedroom
as their parent or carer.
Francine Bates, of the safer baby sleep charity
The Lullaby Trust, said: "We recognise that
some parents will choose to sleep with their babies
as opposed to placing them in a cot or a Moses
basket next to their bed.
"The Lullaby Trust supports parental choice but
we would also urge every new mother and father to
weigh up the known risks of sharing a bed with
their baby and, in light of their own situation,
take appropriate precautions.
"Our core message remains that the safest place
for a baby to sleep for the first six months is in a
crib or cot in the same room as a parent or
carer."
The Royal College of Midwives offers the same
advice.




m.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22594587

I know its not right sharing beds with infants but its so much easier attending to them when they wake up at night. I was told of a lady recently around ikorodu area (my Aunt's neighbor) who mistakenly slept on her 1m old baby and the baby died. Honestly speaking, I starting using the cot after I heard that story but we are back to sharing bed. Cots/cribs/even play pen are far safer and better.

when i got tired of going to and from the cot at least thrice in the middle of the night to attend to my son, i jejely transferred him to the bed and nothing happened. a lot of Nigerian parents share beds with their children and we hardly hear of SIDS cases here. the researchers should come up with another one abeg.

@Blendy, no mincing of words but your aunt's neighbour is a bad mother. no mother sleeps that deep to the extent of crushing her own baby except she was drugged. cant recollect the last time i actually slept through the night (not complaining tho)

dominique: when i got tired of going to and from the cot at least thrice in the middle of the night to attend to my son, i jejely transferred him to the bed and nothing happened. a lot of Nigerian parents share beds with their children and we hardly hear of SIDS cases here. the researchers should come up with another one abeg.

@Blendy, no mincing of words but your aunt's neighbour is a bad mother. no mother sleeps that deep to the extent of crushing her own baby except she was drugged. cant recollect the last time i actually slept through the night (not complaining tho)

I think you should say that we hardly hear of reported cases in our country

Dominique some of these thgs really happen especially with those who sleep very deep. Or people who are always too tired due to the nature of their job. My hubby sleeps really deep so I know I'll never let my boys sleep too close to him on the bed except am on night vigil. I even snapped a picture recently of one of my boys sleeping with both legs on his twin brothers back. Since then I've stopped sleeping them close to each other cos its obvious he has inherited somethg from somebody (Lol). If boys of barely 14wks can sleep like that, imagine a very tired adult.
Bottom line is those who do hectic jobs and sleep deeply should avoid sleeping with infants on the same bed.

Lols Blendy, let's excuse those daddies o. When my son was still a baby and would scream out his little lungs in the middle of the night, sometimes hubby won't even stir. I would be so furious, I would feel like giving him a hot kick . But me o, my baby can't as much as whimper without me noticing (I've always been a light sleeper). I wonder how tired I can possibly be that would make me roll over my own baby in deep sleep. The woman must have felt suicidal

@Caldon
Reported or not, I've peronally never heard of a baby dieing mysteriously in his cot. There are so many school of thoughts about handling babies to prevent SIDS. One party will say place the baby chest down, he may suffocate. Another will say, place a baby on his back and he may choke on his milk. Best for parents is to follow their gut instincts and do what is best for the baby.