A study suggests that babies are more at risk when they share beds with their parents.
There is already a general consensus that sleeping with a baby increases the risk of crib death-also known as cot death or sudden infant death syndrome-if the parents smoke or has been consuming alcohol or drugs. However, there are conflicting opinions as to whether bed sharing in general represents a risk in the absence of these factors.
In a recent study conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, individual records of 1,472 cot death cases and 4,679 control cases across five major studies were examined. The researchers found out that the risk of crib death among breastfed babies less than 3 months increased with bed sharing, even when the parents were non-smokers and the mother has not been drinking alcohol or taking any drugs. This fivefold increase in risk of crib death was compared to room sharing, where a baby was allowed to sleep in a cot in the parents' room.
According to the researchers, an estimated 81 percent of cot deaths among babies less than 3 months with no other risk factors could have been prevented if they did not share beds with their parents. The study also showed that, as the baby gets older, the risk associated with bed sharing decreases and that instances of cot death most commonly occur between 7 and 10 weeks.
Quite alarmed with this current situation happening in the U.K., Professor Bob Carpenter, the lead author of the study, said that if only parents were aware of the risks of bed sharing, and if only room sharing was instead promoted, the U.K could have achieved a substantial reduction in cot death rates. With an approximately 300 cot death cases happening every year in babies less than one year in the United Kingdom, health professionals making a definite stand and taking action against the practice of bed sharing could save the lives of as much as 40 percent of those.
