SIDS and Co-sleeping

I awoke the other morning In a hotel turned on the TV and was confronted with the scare stories about co-sleeping (parent sleeping with baby in bed). The headlines shout out “Half of cot deaths when baby with parent” “ Co-sleeping is key culprit in sudden infant death” . These are terrifying headlines for many new mums. They cuddle and breastfeed their bundle of joy to sleep and as soon as they put the baby into the cot he opens his eyes and starts to wail. This happens for hours on end, mum gets exhausted and eventually decided to put baby in bed next to her as she has found that baby will sleep there or she will sit on the sofa for hours on end and occasionally fall asleep from sheer exhaustion.
I was disturbed by these headlines and the potential harm they could do to mums and babies, so I decided to read the original research and related articles. The original research was published in the British Medical Journal. The actual research findings show that there is a significantly incresed risk of SIDS (also known as cot death) if parent and baby are co-sleeping AND under the influence alcohol or drugs (prescription or illegal). There was also a high risk of SIDS if the baby was sleeping on a sofa with a parent. The conclusion to the research actually states that we should not frighten parents from sharing a bed with their baby.

“Based on evidence from research into SIDS it is questionable whether advice to avoid bed sharing is generalisable and whether such a simplistic approach would do no harm. Parents of young infants need to feed them during the night, sometimes several times, and if we demonise the parents’ bed we may be in danger of the sofa being chosen. A better approach may be to warn parents of the specific circumstances that put infants at risk. Parents need to be advised never to put themselves in a situation where they might fall asleep with a young infant on a sofa. Parents also need to be reminded that they should never cosleep with an infant in any environment if they have consumed alcohol or drugs.”

A statement from UNICEF http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/items/research_detail.asp?item=76 highlights the fact that the description of cosleeping include those babies that were sleeping on a sofa with parents (which is a very risky activity). When the figures were adjusted to exclude those babies that were 'co-sleeping' on a sofa and who were co-sleeping with a parent who had been drinking or taken drugs, the percentage of babies who died whilst sharing a bed with parents and the percentage of babies who died in a cot was the same. Therefore safe co-sleeping was at least as safe as cot sleeping (in parents room)
So given that it is far safer to co-sleep than risk falling asleep on a sofa or chair how can you make co-sleeping as safe as possible.
UNICEF produce a leaflet http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/pdfs/sharingbedleaflet.pdf about bed sharing which contains the following information.
The mattress must be firm and flat – waterbeds, bean bags and sagging mattresses are not suitable;

Make sure that your baby can’t fall out of bed or get stuck between the mattress and the wall;

The room must not be too hot (16–18°C is ideal);

Your baby should not be overdressed – he should not wear any more clothes than you would wear in bed yourself;

The covers must not overheat the baby or cover the baby’s head;

Your baby must not be left alone in or on the bed as even very young babies can wriggle into dangerous positions;

Your partner should know if your baby is in the bed;

If an older child is also sharing your bed, you or your partner should sleep between the child and the baby;

Pets should not share a bed with your baby

MOST IMPORTANTLY, NEVER share a bed with your baby if you have been drinking alcohol; taken any illegal drugs or any other medication which may make you drowsy.
I hope this information reassures some mums, I know that co-sleeping saved my sanity when coping with a toddler who didn't nap in the day time and a new baby. It has also been shown that co-sleeping is associated with an increase in breastfeeding, which can only be a good thing.