Bed sharing or co-sleeping, the practice of letting infants sleep in the bed of a parent or caregiver, has been on the rise in the United States. Although thought to help establish parent-child bonding and ease breastfeeding, bed sharing is hazardous to infants, according to a study conducted at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In addition to causing falls and suffocation, bed sharing is also associated with an increase in the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Quite simply, infants should not sleep in the same bed as their parents. The risk of SIDS can be greatly reduced by allowing your infant to sleep in a crib, and putting them to sleep on their backs as opposed to their stomachs.

View the Video

To learn more about the hazards of bed sharing, view the video.

Additional Information/Follow Up

Crozer-Keystone Health System offers a variety of childbirth education classes at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Delaware County Memorial Hospital (DCMH) that include information on the following: pregnancy, maternity exercise before and after birth, prepared childbirth, infant/child first aid and CPR, nurturing your newborn, and much more.

For more information on childbirth education classes at Crozer, call 610-447-2084 or at DCMH, call 610-284-8892. 

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