Babies Who Sleep In Soft Bedding At Increased SID Risk

First Posted: Dec 01, 2014 11:05 AM EST
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A nice soft surface may seem like the best place for your baby to sleep. Yet did you know that this could increase the risk of suffocation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies should be put on firm surfaces for sleeping and placed on their backs, away from soft objects, such as bumpers, pillows or blankets. The same recommendations are also provided by the National Institute of Health's Safe to Sleep program, but more than half of parents in the United States do not heed these warnings.

"The danger is that thick blankets, quilt or pillows can obstruct the baby's airway, which would keep them from being able to breathe," said lead study author Carrie Shapiro-Mendoza, a senior scientist from the CDC Division of Reproductive Health, via Reuters. "They want to provide warmth and comfort to the baby, but all the baby really needs is infant sleep clothing."

For this study, researchers used data from children eight months old and younger between 1993 and 2010 as part of the National Infant Sleep Position Study.

Findings revealed that about 86 percent of parents said they used loose bedding when their babies to sleep between 1993 and 1995. Fortunately that number feel to around 55 percent from 2008 to 2010. Researchers also discovered that mothers who didn't graduate high school or teenage moms were more likely to use soft or loose fitting materials and be at a higher risk.

"Babies should sleep on a firm, safety-approved mattress with a fitted sheet, without any other bedding," Shapiro-Mendoza said, via Health Day. "Also important when placing the infant to sleep in a crib or bassinet is placing the infant on his or her back and not sharing a sleep surface with the infant."

However, the study did not assess the use of crib bumpers or infant sleep positioners-even for those marketed as supposedly reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which can play a part in the problem.

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