Bed-sharing increases a baby's risk of dying from SIDS, especially in preterm infants (preemies), babies who had a low birth weight, and healthy full-term infants younger than 4 months old. Other things that increase this risk of death while bed-sharing include: a baby sleeping on a couch alone or with a parent.
Though, as in the UK, the US American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to share a room with their baby to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), it warns against sharing a bed because bedsharing has been associated with an increased risk of SIDS.
It increases the risk of SIDS and suffocation
The AAP says co-sleeping is especially dangerous if the baby is younger than 4 months, was born prematurely, or had a low birth weight. The risk also increases if someone in bed smokes, drinks, or takes drugs—or if the co-sleeping surface is soft and has bedding.
Cosleeping is actually more common in the U.S. than most people believe. The typical American home has a room that contains a crib for the baby, and parents report that the baby sleeps in the crib.
Countries such as Sweden, Egypt, and Japan value a child-rearing model of interdependence and hold beliefs that co-sleeping is developmentally beneficial to children.
Year after the year, Japan is one of the countries with one of the lowest infant mortality rates. There are a few reasons why this may be: They have lower rates of maternal smoking and alcohol consumption — and research has shown that both maternal smoking and prenatal drinking increase a child's SIDS risk.
Families in predominantly Asian countries and regions such as Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, or China co-sleep much more frequently than in the United States.
Breastfeeding mothers and babies sharing sleep is a biologically normal behaviour, while formula feeding and separate sleep are departures from the norm. It is these behaviours that need to be shown to be effective and safe, not the other way round.
According to Evolutionary Parenting, Japan has significant lower rates of maternal smoking and alcohol consumption — and research has shown that maternal smoking has a direct relation to SIDS. Factors like these could have a direct influence on the lowered SIDS rate for Asian children.
In Japan, it's the rule rather than the exception for families to sleep together, with babies co-sleeping with their parents until the next baby arrives. And even then, the first child tends to co-sleep with another family member until the age of ten.
Co-sleeping with a child over 1 year old has a little less risk than with one under 12 months. At a toddler's age of 1 to 2 years old, they can roll over and free themselves in case they are trapped in the bed. As a child gets older, it becomes less risky to co-sleep, but it's still best for them to sleep on their own.
Although not recommended for any age, a 7-year-old sleeping with their parents is considered normal in many families and cultures. Co-sleeping is not recommended, but a 7-year-old child sleeping with parents is considered normal in many families and cultures.
There is no medically recommended hard stop to bed-sharing, and no rules about it, but it's thought that a child will likely self wean around eight years old. Renown child expert and author, Dr. William Sears explained in Parents, that even kids four to six years old are not too old to sleep in a family bed.
The proclamation may have proved less than accurate, but for almost a century between the 1850s and 1950s, separate beds were seen as a healthier, more modern option for couples than the double, with Victorian doctors warning that sharing a bed would allow the weaker sleeper to drain the vitality of the stronger.
A January 2023 survey of 2,200 Americans by the International Housewares Association for The New York Times revealed some startling statistics: One in five couples sleep, not just in separate beds, but in separate bedrooms, and of those couples who sleep apart, nearly two thirds do it every night.
More recently, the highest SIDS rates (>0.5/1000 live births) are in New Zealand and the United States. The lowest rates (<0.2/1000) are in Japan and the Netherlands.
Fortunately, SIDs is rare and the incidence of cot death in India is lower than many other countries including developed countries. No one knows exactly why. The good news is that the growing awareness of correct sleeping positions has reduced the number of cot deaths worldwide.
The chance of SIDS occurring is very low, affecting about 0.0001 percent of infants under a year old in India. The cause or causes of SIDS are not known; however, there are steps you can take to create a safe sleep environment for your baby and to help prevent SIDS.
SUID is the sudden death of an infant that has occurred as a result of accidental suffocation in a sleeping environment, SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), or from an unknown cause of death. Nationally, non-Hispanic Black (NHB) infants have twice the risk of SUID compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) infants.
Babies who are breastfed or are fed expressed breastmilk are at lower risk for SIDS compared with babies who were never fed breastmilk. According to research, the longer you exclusively breastfeed your baby (meaning not supplementing with formula or solid food), the lower his or her risk of SIDS.
Breastfed babies wake up more easily than exclusively formula-fed babies, so that may be one reason breastfeeding appears to affect SIDS risk. Babies also receive immune benefits from breastfeeding which can reduce their risk of a viral infection. Viral infections can increase SIDS risk.
SIDS is most common at 2-4 months of age when the cardiorespiratory system of all infants is in rapid transition and therefore unstable. So, all infants in this age range are at risk for dysfunction of neurological control of breathing.
Bed sharing with your baby before the age of 3 or 4 months increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). It is recommended to use a bassinet or safe co-sleeper next to the bed during the initial months of life.
“Co-sleeping is the usual practice in preindustrial societies around the world where there are no special beds for babies to sleep safely by themselves. Co-sleeping on mats on the floor is a cultural norm in Asia, where the family traditionally co-sleeps together in the same room.
Bed-sharing means sleeping in the same bed as your baby, or sharing the same sleeping surface. Co-sleeping means sleeping in close proximity to your baby, sometimes in the same bed and sometimes nearby in the same room (room-sharing).