Study: Adult Bed No Place For Babies

Although in some families, babies join Mom and Dad in bed, a new study says keeping your infant in a crib may be the best bet.

A study published in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics found that babies who are put to sleep in an adult bed face as much as a 40 times greater risk suffocation than babies who sleep in standard cribs.

"The odds of death go up dramatically among babies who use adult beds," said Dr. James Kemp, one of the researchers and an associate professor of pediatrics at St. Louis University School of Medicine. "The numbers are gigantic, much higher than I had thought. It's the best data available right now."

Between 13 and 14 percent of parents say they share beds with their babies. Kemp said a public awareness campaign should be implemented to alert parents to the dangers of the practice.

"Granted, you want to be close to your baby at night time," he said. "But we don't think babies should be in adult beds. This has to be a risk assessment and it remains a terrible idea to share an adult bed with a baby."

Kemp says younger infants may be at the greatest risk of death in adult beds because they lack the motor skills to escape potential threats to their safety, such as soft bedding or being trapped between the bed and the wall.

The study examined the risk of suffocation for babies under 8 months during the four-year period from 1995 to 1998. The researchers found the risk of suffocation for babies in cribs was .63 deaths per 100,000 infants, compared 25.5 deaths per 100,000 infants who suffocate in adult beds.

October is sudden infant death syndrome awareness month, and Kemp is optimistic that the new research that quantifies the risk factor of putting babies to sleep in adult beds will convince parents to do everything they can to keep their babies safe.

In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics began recommending that parents place their babies on their backs to sleep to reduce the risk of SIDS. Since the awareness campaign, the SIDS rate has been cut nearly in half.

"While sleep position plays an importing role in keeping babies safe, it is only part of the solution," Kemp said. "Putting a baby to sleep in an adult bed is dangerous, and a risk that parents don't have to take. A sleeping baby belongs in a crib or other approved baby bed."