Bed Sharing Dangerous for Infants

CHICAGO (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study shows infants who share a bed with siblings or other children are more likely to suffer from sudden infant death syndrome.

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development defines SIDS as “the sudden death of an infant, which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history.”

Researchers studied infant deaths that occurred in Chicago from 1993 to 1996. There were 260 SIDS deaths during that time. Results of the study show infants who died of SIDS were 5.4-times more likely to have shared a bed with other children.

The researchers found that sleeping on the stomach and sleeping on soft bedding -- both known risk factors of SIDS -- pose a much greater risk when they occur together. Their data also confirms that sleeping with a pacifier lowers an infant’s risk of SIDS.

Although they cannot explain why, researchers also found that sleeping on a sofa increases the risk of SIDS. Fifteen of the infants studied were placed on a sofa the last time they were placed to sleep.

Fern R. Hauck, M.D., from the University of Virginia Health System, says, “Our study found a dramatic increase in SIDS risk for those prone to sleeping on soft surfaces, highlighting the need to eliminate these unsafe sleep practices.” Dr. Hauck adds that infants should never sleep on a couch with anyone or in a bed with other children.

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