There are some myths that we really didn’t want to investigate because we knew that our friends and family would be upset with us for trying to disprove one of their most cherished beliefs. Here comes one of those beliefs – the safety of having your baby sleep in bed with you (co-sleeping).
Sharing a bed with your baby is much more common in some communities than in others. One study of 128 parent-infant pairs in the Washington, D.C., area found that nearly half (48 per cent) of infants slept in an adult bed with their mother. In some countries, co-sleeping is even more common. Some advocate that sharing a bed promotes breastfeeding. Other studies suggest that sharing a bed may enhance infant arousal sleep patterns that could help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). More breastfeeding and less SIDS? Co-sleeping sounds like a perfect choice – so why don’t we recommend co-sleeping to everyone?
The problem is that sharing an adult bed with a baby can be dangerous. The soft bed, pillows and loose blankets on an adult bed can entrap and suffocate babies, especially those who are too young to roll over on their own. The fact is babies have died and continue to die every year from co-sleeping. A review of 1,396 cases of accidental suffocation of infants eleven months old and younger reported to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission between 1980 and 1998 found that the number of infant suffocations in adult beds, sofas and chairs increased each year. In this study, infants who slept in adult beds had a twenty-fold increased risk of suffocation compared to those who slept in cribs.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has not identified any scientific proof that SIDS is reduced by co-sleeping; instead, they conclude that sharing a bed may be unsafe for babies because of the risk of entrapment and suffocation. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and The American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Infant Positioning and SIDS both oppose co-sleeping due to the risk of infant suffocation.
The National Health Service does not warn parents against co-sleeping. They do recommend that you do so only if you are not tired, drugged or drunk. However, UNICEF UK point out that adult beds are not designed to keep a baby safe and they document a number of things that make co-sleeping in an adult bed potentially unsafe.
While having your baby sleep in your bed may make it easier for you to feed them, comfort them and get some rest yourself, these advantages should be weighed against the very real risk of the baby suffocating and dying.