A Texas newspaper is reporting that it is dangerous — often fatal — for infants to sleep in the same bed with others.
According to a story published in The Dallas Morning News, state statistics show that more than 160 Texas infants die each year while sleeping in bed with family members.
Deaths of babies in shared beds are a persistent problem rooted in cultural beliefs about the bonding and health benefits of such an arrangement, pediatricians and law enforcement personnel say. They say that covers and pillows can make for a difficylt environment for babies.
However, breast-feeding advocates and some researchers say Texas’ warnings are paternalistic and overly broad.
There were 167 deaths from accidental suffocation or strangulation, or without a clear explanation, while babies shared beds during the budget year that ended on Aug. 31, according to Child Protective Services and the Department of State Health Services. In the previous state fiscal year, there were 165. There were 20 such deaths in October, 2009.
CPS officials say they became alarmed about bed-sharing deaths a couple of years ago and began manually reviewing the agency’s internal case files to learn how many there might be.
download Dead Man’s Folly The statistics include deaths while young children shared sofas, couches, cots, futons and waterbeds with family members.
Nearly nine out of 10 such deaths in Texas in the past two fiscal years involved a baby 6 months or younger, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis of the data.