- Regardless of your reasons for co-sleeping,
whether it's planned co-sleeping or accidental,
co-sleeping does create an increased risk of SIDS,
suffocation, and other sleep-related infant death
particularly in the first 12 months.
So if and when you do it, you need to take steps
to reduce the risk as much as possible,
starting with preparing the environment.
If you are co-sleeping,
you should be sleeping on a firm, flat mattress.
Never on a water bed
or placing anything soft underneath them,
for example, a lambswool underlay or a pillow
as this can actually increase the risk of overheating,
which is a known risk factor for SIDS,
as well as increase the risk of accidental suffocation.
You should also move the bed or mattress away from the wall
or other pieces of furniture
because this will ensure your baby can't get trapped
between the bed and the wall
or the bed and those pieces of furniture.
Now, this often leads parents to becoming concerned
that their baby may roll out of the bed
and fall onto the floor.
So to limit the risk of falling,
obviously ensure that your baby's not close
to the edge of the bed
and think about whether or not you want to place that mattress
directly on the floor
because this will reduce the risk of your baby
accidentally falling out of the bed significantly.
Do not place pillows on the side of your baby
to prevent them rolling off
as this will actually increase the risk of overheating,
as well as suffocation.
Once the bed is prepared
and it's time to hop in with your baby,
make sure that you position your baby
so that they are to the side of one caregiver
and not between two caregivers
because when you sleep a baby between two caregivers,
it increases the likelihood of the baby's head
becoming covered or slipping beneath the adult bedding
and resulting in suffocation,
as well as increases the risk of overheating,
which is a known risk factor for SIDS.
You also want to make sure that you place your baby
on their back to sleep,
never on their tummy or their side
because babies who sleep on their back
are much less likely to die of SIDS
than babies who sleep on their stomach or their sides.
And most importantly, you wanna make sure
that there is a clear space around your baby,
so you do not want any blankets, pillows, sheets, Doonas,
lambswools, or soft toys within reach.
And this is because these items
can actually increase the risk of SIDS, suffocation,
entrapment and wedging, as well as strangulation.
Now, if it is a cold night,
instead of using bedding like blankets and Doonas,
you want to place your baby in a safe sleeping bag
with their arms out.
You don't ever want to wrap or swaddle your baby
when you're bed sharing or co-sleeping.
And lastly, you want to make sure that your partner is aware
that you've actually placed the baby in the bed with you.
While this advice helps to reduce the risks
associated with co-sleeping,
there are times when you should never share a bed
or co-sleep with a baby
even if you're doing all the things I just mentioned.
But before I go into those, if you haven't already,
make sure you download your free copy
of my "New Parent's Guide to Naps"
which will help you get your little one
to take better naps during the day
by understanding their sleep requirements
based on their age.
So the situations where you should never share a bed
with your baby are firstly,
if the baby shares a sleep surface with a caregiver
who is a smoker or under the influence of alcohol or drugs
that causes sedation.
And that's because the risk of sleep-related infant death
is actually 10 times higher for a baby who shares their bed
with someone who is fatigued or has taken medication
that makes it harder for them to wake up.
The second situation is if the baby is premature
or small when they were born,
so they have a low birth weight
or they're less than four months of age
and that's because the risk of sleep-related infant death
while bed sharing is actually 5 to 10 times higher
when the baby is younger than four months of age
and two to five times higher
when your baby is born prematurely
or they have a low birth weight.
The third situation is if adult bedding, Doonas, or pillows
are being used and they may accidentally cover the infant.
And that's because the risk of sleep-related infant death
is two to five times higher
for babies who bed share when adult bedding is being used.
The fourth situation is if the baby is sharing the bed
with other children or pets,
and that's because the sleep-related infant death
is 5 to 10 times higher than the baseline risk
of a parent and infant bed sharing,
so it's significantly higher.
And the last situation is if the baby is placed to sleep
on a sofa, bean bag, water bed, or a saggy mattress,
and that's because the risk of sleep-related infant death
is up to 67 times higher when infants sleep with someone
on a couch, a soft armchair, or a cushion.
Now, while all of these things help to reduce the risks
associated with co-sleeping, unfortunately,
those risks can never be eliminated completely.
And for that reason, the American Academy of Pediatrics
and Red Nose Australia don't recommend co-sleeping
and instead recommend that you always place your baby
on their back, but in a crib,
bassinet, portacot, or a play yard,
and always on a firm mattress with a fitted sheet,
and you could place that in your room
particularly in the first six months of their life
because that will help to reduce the risk of SIDS.
If you're struggling with your newborn sleep
and you want to learn how to get them to fall asleep easier
and stay asleep for longer,
make sure you watch this video next
where you'll get my top seven tips
to improve your newborn sleep.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.