Can Risk of SIDS Go Up When Infants Share the Bed With Adults?

One out of two cases of sudden infant death syndrome in Victoria was attributed to co-sleeping or adults sharing the bed with infants.

Statistics showed that 33 of the 72 cases of sudden infant deaths happened when a child shared the bed with an adult.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - Overview
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is death of a baby, under one year of age that occurs in sleep and cannot be explained.

Parents get confusing messages and are not clear about what is the safe thing to do- whether it is safe to make the infants sleep alone or share the bed with them?

While some studies point to an elevated risk of SIDS from co-sleeping with infants, there are other studies which have given a clean chit.

To understand the risks of co-sleeping with infants, researchers will look into factors like suffocation, excessive body heat and its influence on SIDS.

Second-Hand Smoke Exposure Could Raise The Risk Of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Australian researchers say that exposures to cigarette smoke induce abnormalities in babies' brains, thus putting them at increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Source-Medindia

Maternal Smoking Can Put Babies At Increased Risk To Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Researchers say babies born to mothers who smoke are more likely to be slower to wake or respond to stimulation, and this might explain their raised risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The Role of Staphylococcal Infection in Sudden Infant Deaths may Have Been Overlooked
Bacterial infection, particularly with Staphylococcus aureus, may have been overlooked as a causative factor in cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).