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Study: Babies sleeping in parents room leads to poor sleep, more risks

Mother sitting at baby's bed and reading fairy tale book

Obviously, as a parent with a newborn, there's going to be less sleep than what you're accustomed to, but one recent study says there's a lot more to consider.

A new study from the Penn State College of Medicine, through data published in Pediatrics, reports that babies who sleep in the same room as parents for more than six months could be at increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The study showed parents who shared a room with infants at four months of age had over four times the odds of bringing their infant into bed overnight compared to those parenting early independent sleepers.

Also, at the age of nine months, early independent sleepers were stated as sleeping 40 more minutes at night compared to infants who share a room and 26 more minutes than later independent sleepers.

Exactly 279 mothers who delivered at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center were surveyed for this study.

However, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with recommendations contradicting the aforementioned study.

"Recommendations call for infants to share their parents' bedroom for at least the first six months and, optimally, for the first year of life, based on the latest evidence," according to the American Academy of Pediatrics through press release.

One of the biggest risk of infants is SIDS. It's the unexplained death of a baby that most commonly occurs when a baby is sleeping. The cause of SIDS isn't known, but risks and ways to prevent it from occurring have been identified.

How you can prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?

According to Parents.com here are a few ways to help prevent this:

  • Always put your baby to sleep on their back
  • Do not put blankets or toys in crib
  • Use a pacifier at sleep time
  • Try swaddling your child
  • Do not have a baby sleep on their side
  • Do not share your bed with the baby
  • Make sure the crib mattress is firm and tight-fitting
  • Don't overdress a child or put their crib near a heat source

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