Sleeping on Sofas not Safe for Infants: Research

By Staff Reporter - 15 Oct '14 06:43AM

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is the leading cause of death among babies of ages 1 month to one year. Each year nearly 2,500 deaths are reported in the U.S. due to this cause. Medical research is constantly striving to come up with answers to this syndrome and what can be done to prevent these deaths.

A new research says that about one in eight SIDS deaths occurs due to the infant being placed on a sofa. SIDS is the unexplained death of an infant below one year.

The study was done by pediatrician Dr Jeffrey Colvin of Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., and colleagues. They analyzed data of 7,934 sudden infant deaths in 24 states from 2004 to 2012, based on whether they occurred on sofas, cribs, bassinets or beds.

The research found nearly three-quarters of the deaths occurred among infants age 3 months or younger. 1024 deaths on sofas made up 12.9 percent of sleep-related infant deaths.

Pediatricians advise parents to put their children to sleep on a flat surface, on the back, alone and without a pillow. But the study found that parents forget this advice when putting children down on a sofa. The infants generally were on their sides while asleep with someone in proximity, the researchers said.

There's a "fallacy that if I'm awake or watching, SIDS won't happen," Dr. Colvin said, reports the New York Times.

Dr. Colvin said infants "need to sleep alone, on their backs and in a crib, and it doesn't matter if it's for a nap or overnight.And it doesn't matter if the parent is awake or asleep."

Most sofas tend to slope inwards and some babies get wedged between the cushions and are suffocated, the researchers said.

"Many parents think for safety, 'I'll put the baby between myself and the back of the sofa.The unplanned and unexpected happens. The grief is beyond painful and endures for a lifetime." Dr. Ostfeld, the program director of the SIDS Center of New Jersey, said, reports the New York Times.

October is the U.S. National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness month.