Experts Are babies not allowed to sleep in their parents' bed?

Is it dangerous for babies to sleep in the parent's bed??
For many mothers and fathers it is natural to bring their offspring to the marriage bed. However, it is often discouraged to sleep with the baby in a bed because it increases the risk of sudden infant death. Is that true??

Do not take babies into the parent's bed
Couples who have just become parents often want to focus fully on the baby in the first few weeks. Even when sleeping, the little ones are still watching. And often in the marriage bed too. However, mothers and fathers are generally discouraged from bringing their offspring to bed as this could be dangerous for the baby. This is really the case, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Health experts advise against taking newborns to sleep in their parents' bed. This increases the risk of sudden child death. (Image: Monkey Business / fotolia.com)

Increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome
According to the investigation, babies should not go to the marriage bed because it significantly increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

For the study, the research team of Robert Carpenter of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine evaluated five previous studies on the causes of sudden infant death syndrome and found that "88 percent of sudden infant deaths that occurred during bedtime together, would not have occurred if sharing the bed had been avoided ".

Probability increased threefold
The researchers used data from a trans-European study and four national studies from Scotland, New Zealand, Ireland and Germany with more than 1,400 cases compared with control cases.

It turned out that if a baby slept in a parent's bed, the odds of sudden child death, even at best - that is, when the babies were breastfed and the parents did not consume drugs, alcohol, or tobacco - increased almost threefold.

Exact cause not yet clarified
In the worst case, children who were bottle-fed and both parents were smokers and alcohol consumers, the risk of sudden infant death was even 15.6 times higher.

What makes sleep in the common bed so dangerous for babies is not yet clear. Overheating of the babies is presumed to be a possible cause, but in many cases an increased risk of asphyxiation as the cause of the risk of sudden infant death when sleeping in the parent bed is also appropriate.

Minimize risk of sudden infant death
To minimize the risk of sudden infant death, which occurs in most cases during sleep, the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) recommends the child as supine, not with a blanket, but to sleep in a sleeping bag in their own bed.

In addition, babies should change their head position to avoid deformation of the back of the head.

The increased risk, however, does not mean that the little ones should not be temporarily taken to bed together - for example, to breastfeed. But they should sleep better in their own cot. (Ad)