Sharing a bed with a baby does not increase risk of cot death, research shows

Parents across the world have been put off sharing a bed with their new babies by official advice which says it is safer for all children under the age of six months to be put in a cot in their parents' room.

This was based on research which appeared to establish a strong link between "co-sleeping" and sudden infant death syndrome – or cot death.

But the new study found that sharing a bed with a baby was only more dangerous if other factors were also involved.

Parents drinking alcohol were the greatest danger for babies who shared their beds.

Other risk factors included parents smoking or taking drugs, use of heavy bedding, adult pillows and soft mattresses, and when parents were "excessively tired" – defined as having had less than four hours sleep the night before.

The British study also shows that infants are at the greatest risk of all if they and their parents fell asleep on sofas.

However, it parents avoided all the other risk factors, sleeping in a bed with their baby proved no more risky than putting them in a cot in their parents' room.

Childcare experts said last night that the news would be received with relief by many parents, while midwives said it would help them to provide better advice.

But experts on sudden infant death syndrome urged caution until new advice was given.

Experts have known for some time that parents' behaviours and the type of bedroom environment alter the risk of infant death among families who co-sleep, but this is the first detailed study to examine those circumstances in detail.

It concludes that once other factors are stripped out, co-sleeping does not in itself increase the risk to the baby.

Drink, drugs and extreme tiredness are likely to mean parents fall into a deep sleep, and will be less sensitive to both their body movements and the cues of a baby in distress. Heavy bedding, adult pillows and soft mattresses could squash and restrict the infant.

Childcare experts said the findings were "extremely significant," because previous studies have found that mothers who share a bed with their baby are more likely to breast-feed for longer, boosting the child's immune systems and improving their long-term health. 

Prof Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said: "It will be really useful to have research shedding light on an incredibly important area.

"Until now we have had a default position that in the absence of information about why co-sleeping appears to carry risks, it is best for mothers not to do it.

"This will allow us to give much more sophisticated advice, and it will reassure a lot of women who want to share a bed with their baby but feel anxious about it".

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Our advice remains that the safest place for your baby to sleep is in a cot in a room with you for the first six months. However, we will examine this research and its findings carefully."

(Telegraph.co.uk)