Babies Bed Sharing With Caregivers on Rise Despite SIDS Risk: Study

The percentage of infants sharing a bed with caregivers increased between 1993 and 2010, especially among black and Hispanic families.

The latest finding provided by researchers from the Yale School of Medicine, states that over the past 20 years there has been a rise in infants sharing a bed with their care givers especially among black and Hispanic families. But proper education from the healthcare providers can reverse this unhealthy trend.

"We found that black infants, who are at highest risk of sudden infant death syndrome and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, share a bed most often. Compared with white infants, black infants are 3.5 times more likely to share a bed," the authors explain.

There are conflicting opinions when it comes to bed sharing with babies. A majority of the adults believe that sharing beds with infants is safe, but several studies in the past have associated this to the Sudden Infant Death syndrome (SIDS).

In order to prevent SIDS, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that infants can share a room with their parents but not a bed for sleeping.

The researchers, Eve Colson, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine and her colleagues, conducted an annual telephone survey on 18,986 caregivers from 48 states. They interviewed the night time caregivers of which 80 percent were mothers who had participated in the National Infant Sleep Position Study. Half of the study participants were 30 years or older. They had a college education and earned a yearly income of $50,000. More than 80 percent of the caregivers were white.

The study participants were asked to mention the usual sleeping places of the infants and later were asked where the infants slept in the past two weeks. They enquired whether the baby slept alone or shared the bed with another child or person.

The caregivers were questioned on whether they received any advice from a physician or  healthcare provider on sleeping arrangements and whether the attitude of the provider on bed sharing was positive negative or neutral, reported the Medical Xpress.

On analyzing the information, the researchers noticed that the proportion of infants sharing  a bed between 1993 and 2010 increased more than two times; from 6.5 percent to 13.5 percent. A higher incidence of bed sharing  among black and Hispanic families was observed during the study period.

There was an increase in the percentage of black infants sharing a bed - from 21.2 to 38.7 percent. And among Hispanic infants the number increased from 12.5 percent to 20.5 percent.  The number of white infants sharing a bed rose from 4.9 percent 9.1 percent. More than half of the study participants claimed not receiving any guidance from health care providers on bed sharing. And those who did,  diligently followed the advice.

Researcher Colson concluded saying, "This shows that a healthcare provider's advice matters and they can play a key role in educating caregivers about the possible dangers of bed-sharing. We find this concerning because black infants are at a higher risk of dying of SIDS than white and Hispanic infants."

Data according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention state that there are more than 4000 U.S. infants that die suddenly of no immediate obvious cause, every year. And half of the Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths are due to SID. The findings of the study will be published in the issue of JAMA Pediatrics.