Bed sharing is when a baby is brought into an adult bed for feeding or settling without the intention of sleeping. At the completion of feeding or settling, the baby is returned to its cot. Please note that parents who are tired or affected by medications (including prescribed medications or those administered in a hospital setting, for example, pain relieving medications), drugs or alcohol, may unintentionally fall asleep with the baby in bed or on a couch when bed sharing or reclining on a couch with their baby. This situation may increase the risk of SIDS.
Postnatal and Parenting
Safe sleeping, and settling newborns
Why is safe sleeping important for your baby?
SUDI (including SIDS) is the sudden unexpected death of an infant less than one year of age during sleep. The reason remains unexplained after thorough investigation, including a complete autopsy and review of the circumstances of the death and clinical history.
However, research into cases of SIDS has revealed a common thread: the infant, either at the time of death or shortly before death, shared a sleep surface with another person, usually the parent.
Situations that additionally increase the risk of SIDS include:
- The person sleeping with the baby is a smoker or affected by alcohol, drugs or medication
- The infant is sleeping with another person or parent on a couch, in a bed with thick or soft bedding e.g. waterbeds, bean bags, sagging mattresses, sofas
- The infant is sleeping with siblings (including twins, as well as older children) and/or pets
- A pillow is present in bed with children under 4 months
- The infant is aged under 12 weeks or born prematurely
- Where the baby can be trapped between the wall and bed, can fall out of bed, or could be rolled on
Many parents are unaware of these risks or have received incomplete, inaccurate or inconsistent information about creating safe sleeping environments for their infants.
Bed sharing, co-sleeping and sharing a room – the myths and risks
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Creating a safe sleep environment
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Ideally, during the infant's first year, and certainly not until six months of age, an infant must not share a sleep surface with another person.
The following important points on how to sleep your baby safely summarise current advice from the SIDS and kids organisation and is taken from their Website:
- Sleep baby on the back from birth, not on the tummy or side
- Sleep baby with her/his head and face uncovered
- Keep baby in a smoke free environment before birth and after
- Provide a safe sleeping environment night and day
- Sleep baby in their own safe sleeping place in the same room as an adult care-giver for the first six to twelve months
- Breastfeed baby if you can
A cot that meets recommended safety standards (Australian Cot Standards) with a clean, firm, flat mattress, with no use of soft toys, pillows, sheepskins or bumpers is recommended by experts as the safest sleeping environment for young infants. Baby’s feet should be put at the bottom of the cot with the bed clothes tucked in securely so the bedding is not loose. Wrapping a baby first may assist in maintaining the recommended back lying position and the bed clothes should come up only to the baby’s shoulder level. Babies should never be put to sleep on a sofa or couch and it is not recommended that babies be left to sleep in a pram or bassinet.