After years of warning parents against co-sleeping, leading sleep advice charity, The Lullaby Trust has changed its advice on bed sharing.
After years of warning parents against co-sleeping, leading sleep advice charity, The Lullaby Trust has changed its advice on bed sharing.
As part of Safer Sleep Week, the non-profit organisation said they wanted "to help parents make informed choices about sharing a bed with their baby and advise them on how to do so more safely."
For years the charity who support bereaved families and raise awareness about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) warned parents not to co-sleep, claiming it increased the risk of cot death.
Now they are now campaigning to show parents how to make their bed a safe place for babies regardless of whether they plan to bed share or if they fall asleep unexpectedly.
In a recent survey of 8,500 parents, they found 76% of parents have co-slept with their baby, with 4 in 10 doing so in dangerous circumstances. These include falling asleep on the sofa, taking medication that can make you drowsy and after consuming alcohol.
Recommendations for safe co-sleeping include making sure babies sleep on their backs and by avoiding any items that could obstruct the baby's breathing such as duvets and pillows. This includes keeping pets and other children out of the bed.
They also advise parents to make sure their baby won't fall out of the bed or get trapped between the mattress and the wall.
The Lullaby Trust still advise against sleeping on a sofa or armchair with your baby, which can increase the risk of SIDS by 50 times.
They also recommend not bed sharing if you or your partner smoke, even if you don't smoke in the same room.
The new advice warns against sleeping with your baby if you have drunk alcohol, taking any medication which can make you drowsy, if you are extremely tired or if your baby was born prematurely.
Talking about the latest changes to the UK's leading sleep charity advice, acting CEO of the Lullaby Trust, Jenny Ward said: "It is a reality that even if parents do not plan to co-sleep, many still fall asleep with their babies unintentionally."
"Babies can and do die in high-risk co-sleeping situations."
"If given the right advice, parents can prepare for planned and unplanned co-sleeping that will help to mitigate those risks and reduce the chance of SIDS."
Kellie Kearney is a Dublin mammy of 4 kids aged 2, 3, 4 and 8 (and she is expecting baby #5 in May). A self-confessed procrastinator and picker-upper of things, Kellie would never turn down a coffee and she loves to travel and share every day true to life moments on Instagram of her expanding family. Follow her daily adventures on Instagram.