Article: Bad Advice Puts Babies At Risk

[Liz]

This is on the sids & kids site:

Research has shown that the risk of SIDS and fatal sleep accidents increases in the following circumstances.

• If a parent who smokes bedshares with their infant
• If a parent is under the influence of alcohol or drugs that cause sedation
• If a parent is excessively tired
• If other children share the bed with an infant
• If the infant gets caught under bedding e.g. pillows and duvets
• If the bed is a water bed or if the mattress is too soft
• If a parent falls asleep with an infant on a sofa
• If an infant gets caught between the bed and the wall or falls off the bed
• If the infant is rolled on

Research in New Zealand and the UK has shown that sleeping baby in the same room, but not in the same bed, with the parents in the first six to twelve months of life is protective. This is thought to be because parents can see the baby and easily check to see that baby is safe. This protective effect does not work if the baby is in the room with other children probably because the children do not know if an infant is safe or not.

Never sleep baby on a soft mattress, couch beanbag, or waterbed with or without a parent as there is a very high risk of a sleep accident.

No mention of parents being overweight? I would think one of the above factors came into it rather than it being a weight issue if something went wrong.

Can someone point me to these 'guidelines' that are supposed to be followed? I kinda agree, that co-sleeping is natural and instinctive rather than something you need to follow rules on (the guidelines on the SIDS site are common sense really) We didn't co-sleep until DS was about 7 months or more. Will probably co-sleep earlier with the next one, now we have more confidence in it. I was always a bit nervous when he was tiny. But he's always been between the 2 of us, and under our covers (well... as under as I can get him to stay! LOL - he wriggles his way out most of the time)

ETA: Just wondering - do those of you who co-sleep with subsequent children change your own mattress for each child just like the 'guidelines' say to get a new cot mattress for each child?