Sleeping on a Couch May Lead to Infant Death

Experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that even a short-term co-sleeping with the baby on the couch can be extremely dangerous. In particular, babies are exposed to an increased risk of sudden death.

Doctors give the statistics they received at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Evidence suggests that children are increasingly becoming victims of sudden infant death syndrome – death of a child under 1 year for no apparent reason. This syndrome is already leading the list of the main infant mortality factors. Moreover, since 1990, the frequency of sudden infant death syndrome has increased by more than 50 percent.

After analyzing the problem, the experts concluded that babies often die due to insecurity during sleep. In this case, sleeping on the couch was highlighted as the greatest risk factor.

Pediatricians cite the following data. During 2004-2012, there were more than 9,000 infant deaths in twenty-four states in the USA. A substantial number (12.9 percent) occurred because the babies slept on the couch. The youngest children aged 0 to 3 months made up a lion’s share of these sad statistics (72 percent).

Experts stress that even short-term sleeping on the couch with the baby may end fatally. Therefore, the baby should sleep in a separate bed, possibly in the same room with its parents.

Pediatricians say that death while sleeping on the couch occurred more often when the baby was sharing the couch with an adult. In this case, death occurred when the baby turned face down even if the parent put it to sleep on its back.

They also point out that this kind of infant death is particularly common in the families of smokers.