– How does co sleeping cause SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)?
In: Biology
Sids research is hard to find anything truly conclusive, but the general thought is that the infant gets trapped in a pocket of poorly ventilated CO2. Without enough ability to move out of it, it can be deadly.
When cosleeping, you end up with a lot of linens around the infant that can limit airflow. The parent exhaling will also be larger pockets of CO2 compared to what the baby is trying to draw in, essentially flooding them with CO2.
SIDS is what we call the death of infants where the cause could not be determined. It usually happens during sleep. There are theories that attempt to explain it, that include brain anomalies and breathing in too much carbon dioxide, but in the end, we don’t really know what it is
SIDS, also known as Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID), is not from one single cause – it describes any infant death in which the cause is not immediately identifiable.
While the exact proportion is unknown, at least some SIDS cases are likely due to suffocation. Remember that infants have limited control over their mobility and may not be able to extricate themselves from situations in which their nose and mouth are accidentally covered. Things that we think of as harmless – like loose blankets, loose clothing, stuffed animals – may be deadly to a sleeping baby. And that might possibly also include a co-sleeping caretaker who snuggles too close or rolls up against an infant while sleeping.
[Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics](https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/safe-sleep/) for reducing SIDS risk includes:
* Place infants on their backs for sleep in their own sleep space with no other people.
* Use a crib, bassinet or portable play yard with a firm, flat mattress and a fitted sheet.
* Keep loose blankets, pillows, stuffed toys, bumpers and other soft items out of the sleep space.
During my time in college this report came out https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513378/ discussing genetics of SIDS but as what others have said many times it’s used as a catchall for unexplainable deaths even if something like smothering during cosleeping can explain it.
In all honesty this report was six years ago (wowza) so I forget the bulk of the content but found it interesting at the time.
i thought countries where co sleeping is the most common way, actually have the lowest SIDS rates
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Co sleeping deaths aren’t usually SIDS, at least in my experience. Babies are supposed to sleep in a crib with NOTHING in it. When co sleeping there are pillows and blankets baby could get stuck under and suffocate. Sometimes a parent rolls on top of them and they can’t breathe.
Postpartum doula here, co sleeping done wrong is dangerous. I also think this term needs to be flushed out. Co sleeping could mean a very tired birth parent falling asleep in a rocking chair while nursing. This situation is extremely dangerous.
Or co sleeping could mean the birth parent who chooses to nurse sharing a sleep space that follows the ‘Safe Sleep Seven’.
The Safe Sleep Seven Bedsharing Song
(to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”)
No smoke, sober mom
Baby at your breast
Healthy baby on his back
Keep him lightly dressed.
Not too soft a bed
Watch the cords and gaps
Keep the covers off his head
For your nights and naps.
Most people don’t plan to bed-share and are ill prepared for the exhaustion that comes with infants. That exhaustion can be dangerous if the sleep space isn’t safe.
This seems to be a “Western” phenomena. There’s plenty of countries who don’t have these co-sleep stigma and you don’t hear them having these issues. Anecdotally speaking anyways.
It’s a pocket of CO2 (probably.)
That’s why removing blankets and crib bumpers and sleeping in their back helps, all that increases airflow.
Babies have weaker, small lungs, and the theory is also the system we all have that half wakes us to move around as we sleep isn’t as fully developed.
So they are on their belly, face in blankets, a pocket of co2 around them, that doesn’t move due to small breaths and confined space.
Then rather than rolling over like a kid or adult does, their brain doesn’t trigger that movement to shift to fresh air.
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