As a pediatrician, I have seen many and heard (from colleagues) of deaths of infants from poor sleeping environments. And, these deaths are not all occurring in poorly educated, low socioeconomic background families. A lot of these deaths are occurring in families that are from highly educated, well-informed individuals conscientiously making a decision to co-sleep with their babies and ignore the advice of their pediatricians. Everyone thinks, 'it won't happen to me. I don't drink excessively, do drugs, or smoke. My baby will be fine. So many of my friend's co-sleep with their babies, put their babies on their tummies to sleep, and no one has died.' However, if those were the only risk factors, we wouldn't be seeing such an increase in deaths associated with poor sleep hygiene. Just because you don't know someone who has lost a child, doesn't mean it is not happening at an alarming rate around the country. Please heed the warnings and statistics so you and your family don't become one. Read the article directly from the AAP, here.
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