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Co-sleeping Considerations
Does Sharing a Bed with Baby Increase the Risk of SIDS?
By Teri Brown
Unstable sleeping.
Swaddling is a risky sleeping practice because it may reduce the ability of the chest to expand and limit the depth of each breath.
Sleeping with other children.
Sleeping with other children in any scenario is risky because of the increased chance of roll over, overlay or accidental compressional suffocation. Remember, preschool and early-school-age children can be restless sleepers and move around during the night. They have no control over that or where they will land.
Sleeping on the side.
Placing your baby to sleep on his side increases the risk of SUID. The infant will more often roll from the side onto its stomach and face down. An infant less than 3 to 5 months of age may not have developed strong enough neck muscle tone during deep sleep to lift her head and turn her face to the side to avoid accidental suffocation, especially when she has a cold or upper respiratory infection with accompanying nasal congestion.
Safe Alternatives"There is no truly safe way to share your bed with your infant," Dr. Beckerman says. "A safer sleep environment is to place your infant in a bassinette or crib alongside of your bed until it is 6 months of age."
Dr. Beckerman says the bassinette should have a firm mattress, and be devoid of stuffed toys and pillows. The baby should be dressed as appropriately to the environmental temperature as the parents themselves would be. Baby should be placed supine (on its back) with a light cover, but not wrapped tightly or swaddled.
Though many mothers agree with most of these risk factors, most have doubts about the SIDS and co-sleeping connection. Kristy Powers, from Frostburg, M.D., is one of those mothers.
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