This is a very interesting thread. Thanks for all the info.

Caro, I agree with you that co-sleeping, when done properly is considered safer than cot sleeping. Another source of info on this is Dr Sears. But I think the main reason why it's not promoted as such by the SIDS councils, is that they are playing the percentages. By advocating cot sleeping on the back, no smoking around bubs etc, they have been able to dramatically reduce the incidence of SIDS. Still babies are dying, and even one death is sad, 54 a year or whatever is even sadder, but it is still better than 55 a year and a lot better than 100+ a year. I think they are concerned that by promoting co-sleeping, many people would do it unsafely and that they would not see a significant reduction in SIDS deaths.

Also, with regards to the short gap between pgs, I wonder if this is not a physical thing as such but rather environmental. Having an 11 months gap between birth of no 1 and conceiving no 2, I fall into the category of less than a year between pgs. And if I had to think of a reason why this would place a child at greater risk, I would say the tiredness of the parents. Tom went through a period where he would only settle on his tummy. He could also roll over easily by 2 months so keeping him on his back was tough. If it had've been Jack (no 1), I would undoubtedly have made more of an effort to persist with back sleeping, and if all else failed go in more regularly to try and roll him over once asleep. But TBH, with Tom, I was so tired that I did not risk rolling him over once asleep. I was so grateful for any sleep I could get I would not have risked disturbing him. I do use an Angelcare monitor, but even so I know this was a risk. And if something had happened I would have felt unbelievably guilty. BUT on the other hand, babies die for other reasons too, such as a car accident because mum is too tired to drive safely etc. So I think sometimes you do the very best you can, but sometimes you have to balance up differing priorities and do what you need to do.

So I guess what I am saying is that we all do the best we can, even if it sometimes means ignoring guidelines, but that knowledge is power, so that at least we are in the best position to make the right decision in each circumstance. And I also believe it is our responsiblility to research these things for ourselves, not just to rely on the information that the government or a medical body choose to give us. They are catering for a wide range of backgrounds, education levels, socio-economic groups etc. I am one person and have my own circumstances. Their information is helpful and it's good that it's out there, but I should not rely on it soley.