4. Room Share
SHARE YOUR ROOM NOT YOUR BED FAST FACTS
- Surface Sharing causes 50% of all infant sleep-related deaths.
- Babies should always sleep in their own crib, bassinet, or play-yard.
- Babies should sleep in their caregiver’s room in their own sleep space for at least the first 6 months of life.
- Room sharing promotes breastfeeding and increases caregivers’ responsiveness to their baby’s needs.
- Babies who are premature or have a low birth weight are more likely to die while surface sharing.
- Babies exposed to smoke (cigarette, vape, and/or marijuana) are more likely to die while surface sharing.
- Impairment – exhaustion, alcohol use, drug use – increases the risk of death due to surface sharing.
Continue reading below to learn more…
Room Sharing vs. Bed Sharing
Example of safe room sharing.
Babies should sleep in their caregiver’s room in their own separate sleep space for at least the first 6 months of life. Room sharing is the safest alternative to bed or surface sharing and can reduce your baby’s risk of death by 50%.
Bed sharing (or surface sharing) is when a baby sleeps on a bed, couch, or other surface with an adult or sibling.
Half of the infants in the United States who die of sleep-related deaths were found sleeping with their parents. Sharing a bed with an adult or sibling increases a baby’s risk of suffocation by 10 times! And sleeping on a couch with an adult or sibling increases the baby’s risk of death by 50 times!
Dangers of an Adult Bed
Like couch sleeping, adult beds are unsafe for babies, even when caregivers are not present. Adult beds have soft surfaces and are often covered with pillows, loose sheets, blankets, and comforters, all of which pose serious suffocation risks.
Adult beds also create a risk of entrapment, where a baby can become stuck between the mattress and a wall or piece of furniture. This can restrict their breathing or even block their airway, leading to serious injury or death due to suffocation.
The danger increases significantly when an adult, sibling, or pet is in the bed. This is because of the risk of overlay, which occurs when someone accidentally rolls onto the baby during sleep, causing suffocation. Even the weight of an adult’s arm across a baby’s chest can make it difficult for them to breathe, leading to low oxygen levels and death.
On soft surfaces or surrounded by soft items, caregivers may also move during sleep and unintentionally cause the baby to roll into dangerous positions. These include having their face pressed into a soft item, the mattress, or even the caregiver, leading once again to suffocation.
Surface Sharing & Impairment
Exposure to an environment containing smoking (cigarette, vape, and/or marijuana), alcohol, and/or drugs, increases the risk of death due to SIDS and unsafe sleep. When these factors are present, surface sharing becomes even more dangerous. It is important if your baby is exposed to any of these things, that you make a plan for infant safe sleep.
However, not all impairment is caused by drugs and alcohol. Exhaustion is a form of impairment. When you are exhausted, you may not notice that you have rolled on top of your baby or that they are in an unsafe position. You cannot control fatigue, room-sharing is the safest alternative!
Learn more about Safe Sleep and Impairment here.