Figures show 665 babies’ deaths over past five years were linked to sleeping in bed with parents

The deaths of more than two babies a week are linked to sleeping in the same bed as one or more parents, official figures show.

Co-sleeping has been linked to 665 baby deaths over the past five years, according to Department for Education data.

Sharing a bed with a baby has been associated with sudden infant death syndrome (Sids), particularly when a parent has been drinking alcohol or smokes, although no causal link has been established.

Figures obtained by the Mirror through a freedom of information request show there were 141 deaths linked to co-sleeping in 2017, 131 in 2016, 121 in 2015, 141 in 2014 and 131 in 2013.

Gail Johnson, an education adviser at the Royal College of Midwives, said: “These statistics are a concern. Women and their partners need to be aware of the risks around co-sleeping and take steps to minimise them.

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“If women do choose to co-sleep there are precautions they can take that may minimise the risk to their baby. These include making sure bedding is not covering all of the baby’s head, avoiding the baby getting overheated and ensuring the baby cannot fall out of the bed or get trapped between the bed and a wall.

“The risks to the baby are also far greater if the parent sleeps with the baby on a sofa or in an armchair, so this absolutely should be avoided.”

The NHS advice is for a baby to sleep in its own cot for the first six months in a room with the parent, but it is a highly emotive subject and some have warned that stigmatising co-sleeping is unhelpful given how widespread it is.



The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) says that around half of mothers share a bed with their baby at some point in the child’s first few months, with many doing so because of desperation and/or exhaustion.

There have also been concerns that insufficient distinction is made between sharing a bed and falling asleep on a sofa or chair, given that the former is believed to carry a lower risk.



Some Sids cases are reported to have occurred when parents following the advice not to bed-share have taken their babies on to a sofa and accidentally fallen asleep.



A spokeswoman for the Lullaby Trust said: “It is important to note that the cause of Sids remains unknown and therefore it cannot be said that in the case of those babies who sadly died that co-sleeping was the cause. All that is known is that co-sleeping was identified as a risk factor that was present.

“What this does demonstrate is the importance of reaching all parents with safer sleep advice, which includes guidance on when it is not safe to share a bed with a baby.”