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Is the Family Bed Dangerous?

Every night familes all over the world sleep together, and every day, many mothers nurse and nap with their babies. Sometimes families co-sleep out of necessity--they don't have enough beds for everyone or they have a baby who cries when put down to sleep alone--or perhaps it's their cultural norm, they love to sleep nestled next to their baby, or they are convinced of the many benefits which include enhanced bonding between mother and baby, a good milk supply for moms who nurse while sleeping, and a reduction in the risk of SIDS. Can the common occurence of co-sleeping be dangerous? Advocates of the family bed assure parents that sleeping with their babies is safe, but it's not as common to hear mention made of the precautions to take to help make co-sleeping safer. When new mothers express concern over the possiblity of rolling over on their baby and suffocating them, we quickly assure the mothers that they don't need to be afraid of sleeping with their babies and that suffocation by over-lying is probably only an an old wives’ tale. Have we been wrong? On September 29, 1999, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released a statement that warns against placing babies in adult beds. A CPSC study published in the October issue of the "Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine" found that placing babies to sleep in adult beds puts them at risk of suffocation or strangulation. CPSC Chairman Ann Brown warns, "Don't sleep with your baby or put the baby down to sleep in an adult bed." Should all parents avoid sleeping with their babies? Should I stop sleeping with my baby? I don't believe that I should. We can, however, learn something from this report. Let's take a look at the report says and see what helpful things we can learn. In the report we see that incident data from January 1990 to December 1997 linked adult beds to at least 515 baby deaths. We also see that far more deaths occurred as a result of entrapment rather than by co-sleeping. 394 deaths occured from entrapment including 128 deaths which occured from "wedging between mattress and wall" and 142 from "wedging between mattress and bed frame, headboard or footboard." 121 were co-sleeping deaths, that is, rolling on top of or against baby while sleeping. So, instead of telling parents not to co-sleep, it makes sense for parents who choose to co-sleep to take certain precautions. And perhaps since the report states that "More than three-quarters of these deaths occurred to infants younger than 3 months," then surely it would be prudent to take extra caution when sleeping with young and newborn babies. Suggestions for Creating a Safe Sleeping Environment (many suggestions also apply to babies who sleep in cribs): 1) Whenever possible, do not put a young baby to sleep alone on an adult bed. Other places for baby to nap include in a sling or front pack on mommy or daddy's chest, in a portable car seat or infant seat (baby should be strapped in and seat should be on the floor), on a blanket on the floor in the room you are in, in a portable bassinet or a crib. If you do put baby to sleep alone on an adult bed, take the precautions mentioned below and also put a baby monitor in the room so you can be alerted to the first sound that baby makes and can go and check to make sure baby is okay. 2) Help your baby avoid falling a long distance from the bed to the floor. Do not assume that portable bed railings that protect baby from falling off the bed will make the bed safe. According to the report, entrapment between portable bed rails and mattresses accounted for nine baby deaths. Avoid crevices between the side rail and the mattress. Consider putting the mattress on the ground. Whether you place your mattress on the floor or a bed frame, push the mattress firmly against the wall. Avoid any space between the mattress and the wall or furniture that sits beside the bed. Check these things daily. 3) Babies have died when they got wedged between the bedrame, headboard or footboard, so make sure your mattress fits tightly, just as you would with a crib. Be sure that you can't fit more than two fingers between the edge of the mattress and the headboard or footboard. If the space is too large, roll large towels and place them in the crevices and fill the opening completely. Even better, if you can, take off the headboard and footboard or--like mentioned above--put your mattress on the floor. If your headboard or footboard has slats, as you would with crib slats, make sure they are no larger than 2 3/8 inches apart so baby cannot slip through and be strangled (also check the slats on bedrails). 3) Put baby to sleep on a firm, flat mattress. Avoid soft surfaces such as sheepskins, futons, beanbag cushions, foam pads, foam sofa cushions, synthetic filled adult pillows, and waterbeds. In the study, 68 babies died from "suffocation on a waterbed mattress." If you choose to use a waterbed, keep it very full so it is firm; also, be sure there is no crevice between the mattress and frame. A free-floating waterbed, without internal baffles, is not safe for baby. 4) It can be safest if the baby's mother sleeps next to her baby because she has a special instinct that makes her aware of her baby that the father or siblings do not have. 5) Put baby to sleep on his back. 6) Avoid putting pillows or comforters or other soft bedding under or near baby. If you feel cold, instead of putting more blankets on, put more clothes on. You can put your baby in a blanket sleeper, but avoid over-heating which can increase the risk of SIDS--two people sleeping close together create a lot heat! 7) Try to avoid co-sleeping if you are exhausted because then you might sleep more soundly and be less aware of your baby. It's sometimes when parents feel the most tired that they finally "give in" to the family bed. Try co-sleeping before you get exhausted; sometimes when co-sleeping is done from the beginning mom and baby enjoy it more and can get restful sleep. Also try to avoid exhaustion by not taking on too much responsibility in the beginning after baby's birth, and sleep when baby sleeps. 8) Avoid co-sleeping when you take medication that makes you sleepy or less aware of your surroundings or if you have been drinking. 9) Don't co-sleep if you are morbidly obese. 10) Don't co-sleep if you smoke because that has been found to increase your baby's risk of SIDS. 11) Make sure your baby's head remains uncovered during sleep. Pull the blanket up only as far as your baby’s chest. 12) Consider alternatives such as the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper or taking one side off of baby's crib and pushing it flush against your bed. Or you can put baby to sleep in a bassinet or crib in your bedroom. Remember that the current Western practice of putting babies to sleep alone in their own beds and in their own rooms is only a century or two old and that co-sleeping commonly occurs in most human cultures around the world. There are many benefits to co-sleeping, and when you are careful and use common-sense, the family bed can be a safe and fulfilling way to practice nighttime parenting. I first wrote this article for my pages at Suite101.com.

Infants Index

New Parents

Slings

Crying

Family Bed

Feeding

Diapers

Discipline

Baby Wise

Church