Even a box beats sharing bed with baby

Parents should put babies to sleep in a supermarket banana box rather than risk smothering them by taking them into their bed, says Auckland coroner Murray Jamieson.

He spoke out yesterday against the practice of sharing beds with a baby, saying it is linked to a high number of deaths.

Dr Jamieson said that of the 29 Auckland infant deaths reported to the coroner this year, eight - more than a quarter - had been in "co-sleeping circumstances. I argue that some could be prevented by baby sleeping in their own bed".

The baby could sleep beside the mother's bed in a bassinet or cot or, if that was too expensive, "in a banana box from Pak'N Save".

A cardboard box could be cheaply strengthened with more cardboard and some strong tape, or a drawer of the right size could be used.

Babies should sleep exclusively in their own beds until they were 12 months old.

Dr Jamieson said that in most of the co-sleeping deaths he had investigated previously the baby had been sleeping with an adult or adults, usually the parents.

Some of the cases might be sudden infant death syndrome (Sids) in the parental bed, but there was an extra danger from bed-sharing.

The risk rose further if the adults were drunk or drugged: "They may not notice that by accident they have smothered one of their children."

Dr Jamieson's comments have re-opened an old debate, which arose partly because bed-sharing is more common among Maori and Pacific Islanders, although many Pakeha sleep with their babies.

The Health Ministry's chief adviser on child and youth health, Pat Tuohy, said bed-sharing had benefits and could be safe if the ministry's guidelines were followed.

Boxes or drawers increased the risk of a baby's death - from an ill-fitting mattress or bedding - so should not be used, he said, urging parents to use only cots or bassinets that met New Zealand standards.

Auckland University cot-death researcher Associate Professor Robert Scragg said bed-sharing increased the risk of Sids slightly, but the risk increased much more if the mother was a smoker.

The two factors combined heightened the danger even more.

Infant deaths

* 29 infant deaths reported to coroners in Auckland this year.

* Eight of these cases involved the infant sleeping with another person, mostly their parents. All were aged under 12 months.