Bed sharing is No.1 cause of infant sleep-related deaths, new study says

Bed sharing is No.1 cause of infant sleep-related deaths, new study says

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SALT LAKE CITY — If you have ever wanted to soothe your baby by letting the infant sleep in bed with you, you may want to reconsider. A new study says that bed sharing is the No. 1 cause of infant sleep-related deaths.

The study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics determined the leading risk factors for SIDS. The results showed that the risks for infants changed with the child’s age.

The No. 1 danger for newborn infants to 3-month-old babies is bed sharing, according to the study. For babies 4 months to 1-year-old, the biggest danger was having objects in their bed while they were sleeping — like a stuffed animal or large blanket.

“Parents, especially those who are deep sleepers, have sleep disorders, or smoke or drink, are more likely to accidentally roll over on their tiniest of infants and suffocate them without waking up and realizing what happened,” said University of Utah Health Care board-certified pediatrician Cynthia L. Gellner in a news release.

While the dangers of accidental death are high during co-sleeping, the study found that many parents still share a bed with their infant.

“One recent study showed that up to 45 percent of parents reported they had bed shared at one point in the past two weeks,” said lead author of the study, Dr. Jeffrey Colvin. “Another recent study found that 11 percent of parents reported bed sharing as a usual practice.”

The study was published in the journal “Pediatrics” and examined 8,207 cases of sleep related infant deaths in 24 states from 2004 to 2012.

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Faith Heaton Jolley

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