More Infants Sharing Beds Despite Risk of SIDS

More and more parents are sharing a bed with their infants in spite of a strong link between the practice and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a study shows.

Published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, the study included nearly 19,000 participants in 48 states.

The overall number of infants sharing a bed with a caretaker rose from 6.5 percent in 1993 to 13.5 percent in 2010. The percentage of black infants sharing a bed rose from 21.2 to 38.7 percent during this time period.  For Hispanic infants this number increased from 12.5 to 20.5 percent. White infants sharing a bed rose from 4.9 percent to 9.1 percent during the same survey period.

"We found that black infants, who are at highest risk of sudden infant death syndrome and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, share a bed most often," according to the authors. "Compared with white infants, black infants are 3.5 times more likely to share a bed."

Other factors affecting whether or not bed sharing occurred included socioeconomic status, with those earning less than $50,000 more likely to engage in the practice. Those living in the West and South were also more likely to share a bed with an infant. Finally, infants younger than 15 weeks or those born prematurely were more likely to share a bed with a guardian.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants share a room -- but not a bed -- with parents, so as to prevent sleep-related deaths.

Others argue the issue is not so black and white.

"Equal time in counseling should be given to the benefits to bed sharing, such as more sleep for the parent, easier breastfeeding when the infant is nearby, ease of pacifier reinsertion, and the intangible satisfaction of skin-to-skin contact," Dr. Abraham B. Bergman of the Harborview Medical Center said in a statement. "In its admonition against bed sharing, the AAP has overreached."