News

12th May 2004

Department of Health updates cot death advice

The Department of Health has modified it's advice regarding babies sleeping in their parent's bed after research by The Lancet has disproved a previous theory.

It had been thought that it was safe for a baby to sleep in the parent's bed if neither parent smoked. However, cot death experts from across Europe collaborated on The Lancet study, which focused on 745 cases and found this to be untrue.

They found a two-week-old child sharing a bed with non-smoking parents was at two-and-a-half times the risk of cot death they would be if sleeping separately. At eight weeks they were at one-and-three-quarters the risk.

Further research is required to find out why babies are more at risk when sleeping with their parents.

Joyce Epstein, director of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, welcomed the new advice.

She said, "We hope that this new research-based advice, coupled with FSID's own baby safety information, will help parents keep their babies safer than ever before."

However, there has been some concern overe the new guidelines. Rosie Dodds, of the National Childbirth Trust, feels that the DoH was too quick to change the advice.

She says that there is not enough research to support that sharing a bed with parents increased a baby's risk of cot death.

She went on to say that research has proven that parents who bring their babies into bed are more likely to breastfeed. It is widely accepted that breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for infants.

• Cut out smoking during pregnancy
• Fathers should stop smoking at this time too
• Do not let anyone smoke in the same room as your baby
• Place your baby on its back to sleep
• Do not let your baby get too hot
• Keep your baby's head uncovered
• Place your baby with its feet to the foot of the cot
• Preferably put your baby in a cot in your bedroom for the first six months
• Do not sleep with your baby on a sofa, armchair or settee
• If your baby is unwell, seek medical advice promptly

• Have you ever fallen asleep with your baby in your bed? Air your views in Discuss, Debate and Deliberate