The research from Bristol and Warwick University claims the safest place for baby to sleep for the first six months is in a cot next to the parent’s bed. We completely agree with this statement and it is something we have been recommending to parents since the start of this blog over a year ago.

However, when the tabloids published this story they did not go into enough detail. On closer inspection of the study it is apparent that the extremely high correlation between cot death and co sleeping was observed in a high-risk group. This high-risk group consisted of young, socially-deprived mothers who smoked and many of whom had taken alcohol or drugs at the time of the tragic cot death. In the group studied, there were also many cases where the mother had fallen asleep on the sofa with her baby.

What this study shows therefore is that these risk factors (alcohol, drugs, smoking and falling asleep on the sofa) are lethal when combined with co sleeping. It does not necessarily show that informed cosleeping is much more dangerous than the cot, although there have been studies in the past that have claimed this to be the case.

The study also included a control group which comprised of randomly selected SIDS cases (not just high-risk ones). In this group, 20% of the deaths were associated with a cosleeping arrangement and this control group also had a far lower percentage of alcohol/drug-related risk factors involved. Furthermore, only 1% involved cosleeping on a sofa.

I want to make it clear that I am not advocating cosleeping, I am just trying to give people an objective description of the study and I still stand by my position that the safest place for baby to sleep in the first six months is in a cot next to the parent’s bed.

Although the rate of Cot Death is decreasing in the UK, according to the FSID there are still more than 300 cases a year. The increase in education about the known risk-factors is playing a large part in the declining figures and if you are in any doubt about what you can do to reduce the risk then please read our post on SIDS.

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Advantages

Not only is it far more convenient for breast-feeding mothers but research has shown that babies and mothers sleep much better when they share a bed, with solo baby sleepers being shown to spend four times longer crying each night (McKenna, J., et al 1994). It has also been shown that bed sharing babies have more stable temperatures (C. Richard et al 1996), regular heart rhythms, and fewer long pauses in breathing compared to babies who sleep alone (T. Field 1995). This means baby sleeps physiologically safer.

The results from several studies have suggested that co-sleeping babies grow up with higher self-esteem, less anxiety, become independent sooner, are better behaved in school (P. Heron 1994) and are more comfortable with affection (M. Crawford 1994). They also have been shown to have fewer psychiatric problems (J. F. Forbes et al 1992).

There has actually been research to show that co-sleeping is safer than crib sleeping, despite the media scare stories (Blair et al 1999). The Consumer Product Safety Commission published data that described infant fatalities in adult beds. This data, however, showed more than 3 times as many crib related infant fatalities compared to adult bed accidents (D. A. Drago and A. L. Dannenberg 1999). Another recent large study concluded that bed sharing did NOT increase the risk of SIDS, unless the mum was a smoker or abused alcohol (R. G. Carpenter et al., 2004).

Disadvantages

Tragic accidents, although rare, do occur and you can’t ignore the possibility that:

• you might roll over in your sleep and suffocate your baby
• your baby could get caught between the wall and the bed
• your baby could roll out of your bed and be injured

In the absence of conclusive evidence it’s up to you to decide what works best for your situation. The important thing for you to do is to make your informed decision and then stick by it. Spending hours fretting that you may have made the wrong decision and placed your baby at an elevated risk is only damaging to yourself and your family.

Whichever sleeping arrangement you choose, there are steps you can take to make it as safe as possible which I will discuss in my next post.

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Research has proved that infants who sleep in their own room in the first six months are twice as likely to die from SIDS (formerly called cot death) than those who share their parents’ bedroom. (FSID’s Editorial Team, 2007). I strongly advise you therefore to have baby sleeping in your room for the first six months.

However, the choice of whether you want to share a bed with your baby or put him in a cot next to the bed is ultimately for you to decide on your own. The reason I stated that a cot in the parents’ room is generally the safest place to put baby to sleep is because there are certain medically-agreed, risk factors that can make co-sleeping much more dangerous than cot sleeping. Experts agree that you should never share a bed with your baby if:

• The baby is under three months old
• The baby was premature or less than 2.5kg
• You or your partner are smokers (even if you don’t smoke at home)
• You have been drinking alcohol or have taken medications that make you drowsy.
• You are very tired.

If the above rules are followed I have not found conclusive evidence to recommend cot-sleeping over sharing a bed or vice-versa. The fact that the research is contradictory tells us that there is no hard and fast, right or wrong answer and the unfortunate truth is that tragic accidents can happen in any scenario. Fortunately, these accidents are very rare.

To help you make an informed decision, I will discuss the pros and cons of co-sleeping in my next post.

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