Study: Parents may be putting babies in risky sleeping positions
New research finds some parents may be unwittingly putting their babies at an increased of death.
According to a small study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, researchers at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine studied video camera footage of more than 160 infants found. ABC News reports, the babies were recorded while they slept.
Researchers found in many cases, babies were put to sleep on their sides or stomachs rather on their backs as recommended.
According to the study, more than nine out of 10 of the infants were placed in sleep with potentially hazardous items including pillows, bumper pads, loose bedding, and stuffed animals. These can reportedly increase the risk of suffocation.
Dr. Ian Paul, a professor of pediatrics and public health sciences at Pennsylvania State College, tells ABC News the research was originally aimed at determining new mothers’ preferred sleeping arrangements.
“I was surprised and alarmed,” Dr. Paul says. “I’ve been a pediatrician for 18 years. I am not naive to think parents listen to everything, but [the fact that] almost every baby had loose bedding in their sleep environment was surprising to me.”
Researchers also found many parents practice co-sleeping, or the act of sharing a bed with their infants. They say that practice could also put babies at the risk of suffocation or injury.
Some parents we spoke to say they’re not surprised items like pillows and bumpers could be dangerous; however, there were conflicting viewpoints of the idea of co-sleeping.
Paris Parker, a Salisbury resident, says his two year old daughter shared a bed with him while she was an infant.
“I’ve never had that issue,” Parker says. “As a parent, you have that instinct not to roll…not to do too much moving, notice where they’re at. You wake up in the middle of the night…are they still breathing? Ok, as a parent, You check on these things. I do, I’m real paranoid.”
Tamara Miller, also a Salisbury resident, says she co-slept with her children; however, she understands the risk.
“I think it could be very dangerous. I did it with my children. Thank god, I never suffocated them but that’s where they like to be,” Miller explains. “But I do believe it could be hazardous if you lay on them and you’re not aware that you’re on them or whatever.”
According to the CDC, about 3,500 infants in the U.S. die every year from sudden infant death syndrome also known as SIDS.
