Additionally, the group urges parents and caregiversnot to use products inclinedmore than 10 degrees for infant sleep, as babies on inclined surfaces “can more easily flex their trunk and lift their head, facilitating rolling onto the side or prone, at which point they are at higher risk for muscle fatigue and potential suffocation.”
“It is recommended that infants sleep in the parents' room, close to the parents' bed, but on a separate surface designed for infants, ideally for at least the first 6 months,” the AAP adds.
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The group continues to advise room-sharing “ideally for at least the first six months,” explaining that the practice “is protective for the first year of life, and there is no specific evidence for when it might be safe to moving an infant to a separate room before 1 year of age.”
“The ratesof sleep-related deathsare highest in the first six months, so room-sharing during this vulnerable period is especially important,” they add.
In the report, the AAP says about 3,500 infants die each year in the U.S. from sleep-related incidents, “including SIDS, ill-defined deaths and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.”
“For that reason AAP cannot support bed-sharing under any circumstances,” she added.
Lead author Dr. Rachel Moon, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia, told CNN in a statement, “We’ve made great strides in learning whatkeeps infants safe during sleepbut much work still needs to be done.”
source: people.com
