Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS)

The baby is the joy, the sparkle and all that depicts the product of love for families who want them.  However letting go of these precious little ones is always a pain for parents and even when we become adults our parents are always there, as our heroes, mentors, best friends and closest  confidant. For some, especially depending on the cultural orientation/ family dynamics children should always be kept very close to protect them from impending danger and right from the cradle, some babies sleep on the same  bed as their parents. Pleaseeee give yourself a break lol! Seriously though, studies have shown the impending danger of this act and I had to inform you my favourite audience. Quite informative if you ask me, keep reading...

Sudden infant death risk 'is five times higher if the baby sleeps in its parents' bed'

• It is believed that 120 babies could be saved each year in the UK if parents stopped bed sharing
• Research shows 88 per cent of deaths while co-sleeping could have been avoided had the baby been in a cot

Babies who sleep in the same bed as their parents are five times more likely to die of sudden death, experts have warned.

Bed sharing is on the increase despite warnings that parents should have their babies in bed with them - particularly smokers and those who have been drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

But the latest research says all babies are at extra risk no matter what the parents’ lifestyle.

The largest ever study of its type found the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was five times higher even when neither parent smoked, and the baby was less than 3 months old, breastfed and the mother did not drink or take drugs, than if the baby had slept in a cot next to their parents’ bed.

It is possible accidental suffocation may be to blame, especially when the baby is under three months old.

Despite a dramatic drop in the rate of cot death in the UK since the early 1990s, experts are advising parents that the safest place for a baby to sleep is in a cot, and that dangerous co-sleeping arrangements are an avoidable risk.

Professor Bob Carpenter, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who led the study said 120 babies a year could be saved if parents stopped bed sharing.

He said: ‘Eighty eight per cent of the deaths that occurred while bed sharing would probably not have occurred had the baby been placed on its back in a cot by the parents’ bed.

‘Annually there are around 300 cot death cases in babies under a year old in the UK, and this advice could save the lives of up to 40 per cent of those.

'Health professionals need to make a definite stand against all bed sharing, especially for babies under three months.’

The study looked at five published data sets from the UK, Europe and Australasia, which included information on 1472 SIDS cases and 4679 control cases.

The risk of SIDS while bed sharing fell as the age of the infant rose.

But if either parent was a smoker or the mother had drunk alcohol or used illegal drugs, including cannabis, at any time since the child was born, the risk was greatly increased.

The study found in 22 per cent of cases where infants had died from SIDS, one or both parents had been sleeping with their child at the time of death.

Over the past 10 years, there has been a marked increase in bed sharing and the authors now estimate half of SIDS cases occur while bed sharing - more than double the figure found in the study.

Even in very low-risk breastfed babies, where there were no risk factors for SIDS other than that they had slept in their parents’ bed, 81 per cent of SIDS deaths in infants under three months of age could have been prevented by not bed sharing, they add.

‘We currently recommend that doctors, midwives and nurses should warn parents of the risks of sleeping alongside a baby in a bed.

‘The safest place for a baby to sleep is in a cot in their parents’ room for the first six months.’
(culled from mail online)