More Dads Do Not Like Co-Sleeping With Babies; What Are The Dangers Of This Practice?

More fathers than mothers do not like to share their bed with their newborn babies. Study shows that co-sleeping with babies under the age of one is actually dangerous and is one of the leading causes of death in infants.

Researchers found that the best way for infants to sleep is alone, on their back, and in a crib. They should not have pillows, stuff toys, or even blankets with them. A new study claimed that more dads do not want to sleep with their newborn babies than mothers via the Amerisleep survey.

In the survey, 2,000 people in the United States took part and they answered questions about their sleeping habits with their kids. Fifty-four percent of the male respondents said they did not like sleeping with their kids while 43 percent of females agreed with what men feel.

These men noted they do not feel comfortable sharing the bed with their kids no matter what the bed size is. Mothers, on the other hand, said if they sleep with their kids, they felt like it was a better set-up, Mom.me shared.

Medical researchers made efforts to disseminate this information in order to avoid deaths in babies due to suffocation because of co-sleeping. One of the latest moves that states came up with is the giving of free baby boxes to new parents in order to let the babies sleep on their own and veer away from the practice of co-sleeping.

Co-sleeping caused an increase on the risk of death of infants in the past years specifically those that fall under Sudden Infant Death Syndrome due to accidental suffocation and strangulation. The public information officer for Illinois Department of Public Health, Divya Mohan Little, said they recorded 51 deaths tied to co-sleeping with infants in 201, The Southern Illinoisan reported.

Dr. Ashley Kaytor of Logan Primary Care added that once kids get older, co-sleeping is not an issue but for kids younger than one, sleeping on their own is the best option since they do not have head control yet. She also advised parents to let infants sleep in firm surfaces and avoid soft objects or loose bedding. Kaytor continued to say that room-sharing is better instead of bed-sharing.