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Most Cot deaths are attributed to babies sleeping with parents

Over 50% of cot deaths otherwise known as sudden infant death syndrome, (SIDS), happen when babies are asleep with their parents, according to a recent study.

Researchers warned that the findings published online by the British Medical Journal prove that the safest place for babies was beside their parents’ bed in a cot.

Researchers found that parents said that they had been warned about the dangers of sleeping beside their baby in a bed there had been no similar warnings about other places in the home. Some of the children had died after their parents accidentally fell asleep beside them on a sofa.

Babies were also more likely to suffer cot death if their parents consumed alcohol or took drugs, (Where much of the risk was highest) and if they slept on a pillow.

Although there has been a steep decline in the number of cot deaths, 300 babies a year still die in this way.

Leading the study Prof Peter Fleming, from Bristol University said that many parents got up in the middle of the night to feed their baby on a sofa or an armchair, believing that this was safer than feeding them in bed.

“It is really important that parents should not fall asleep with their baby on a sofa as it is very, very dangerous,” Prof Peter Fleming said.

“After parents have fed a baby it is really important they put them back in their cot.

“It is 25 times more risky than having a baby in bed with you.”

Researchers looked at 80 deaths in the South West of England over three years.

         

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Baby’s Sleep Position Doesn’t Make A Baby’s Head Flat

American researchers say that a baby’s sleep position may not make much difference in making their head’s flat.

Risk factors for deformational plagiocephaly (DP), a condition that causes severe asymmetrical head shape, were analysed.

Since the 1990s, parents have been advised to let babies sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of cot death, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

The study was carried out due to the increasing numbers of DP over the last 10-15 years, which now affects up to one in six babies.

Research was carried out at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital Boston. They concluded that the position a child sleeps in does not increase the amount of head flattening.

Prof. Albert Oh said “We found a trend toward less flattening in infants who slept prone [face downward], or in positions that were alternated,”

He went on to comment in the Hasbro Children’s news release. “Interestingly, however, while supine [on the back] positioning has been a well-established risk factor for the development of plagiocephaly, we were not able to demonstrate a logical correlation to indicate more severe flattening from the supine position.”

Interestingly, they did find that a lower gestational age did increase the chances of severe head flattening. They also found that boys had a higher chance of developing the condition, as did multiple-birth babies.

Oh said “In our study, infants with DP who were the product of a multiple-birth pregnancy were disproportionately higher than in the general population and greater than in previous studies,”