Sleeping with your baby

Excerpted from the NYTimes 11/7/07.

Despite the debate, the report clearly showed that adult beds have structural risks that should be changed or removed once a baby enters the house. Here’s the way to safety proof an adult bed:
Remove puffy comforters, duvets and pillows, which pose a suffocation risk to infants. (Bedding also should be removed from cribs.) If it’s cold, put the baby in pajamas, but don’t let the child overheat. Parents should use only lightweight blankets if they have a baby in the bed. Sleep in a bed with a firm mattress that fits tight against the bed frame. Never put a baby on a water bed — 79 of the deaths in the C.P.S.C. report occurred on water beds. Don’t sleep with your baby on sofas or overstuffed chairs. All soft surfaces where a baby can sink in pose a suffocation risk. Remove headboards and footboards. Not only can slats and elaborate designs pose a risk, but babies can get stuck between the mattress and board. Push the bed away from the wall and bed stands. Make sure the bed is far from curtains, blinds, draperies and cords. The goal is to eliminate places where a baby can get wedged in. The majority of deaths reported in the C.P.S.C. study were due to entrapment in bed structures, entanglement in cords and suffocation on water beds. Babies should never sleep alone on an adult bed, even one that has been safety proofed. And babies shouldn’t sleep with siblings. Toddlers and older children can kick, knock, push or lay on top of the baby. If you want to sleep with your baby but already have a toddler in your bed, be sure to position yourself or another parent between the child and baby. Another solution is to purchase a co-sleeper that attaches to the bed.
Parents who smoke or drink or use drugs should take extra precautions so they don’t fall asleep with baby. This includes parents who have taken over-the-counter medications that might make them drowsy. Studies clearly show that kids who sleep with smokers are at higher risk than solitary sleepers, as are kids who sleep with parents who have used alcohol or drugs.
And no matter where a baby sleeps, he or she should always be put down on his back. Babies who sleep on their backs are at lower risk for sudden infant death syndrome than babies who sleep on their tummies.