A team at Bristol's Royal Children's Hospital warns "cot death" does not
always mean a cot - about 30 babies die in the UK a year after sharing a sofa.
The researchers say parents should never snuggle up with very young
children on a sofa if they feel tired.
The Lancet study also found more deaths are occurring among poor families,
and among those where the mother smokes.
It is already known that the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is
higher for babies that are born premature, or have a low birthweight.
Male babies also appear to be more at risk, as do those who sleep on their
side or front.
Smoking during pregnancy, or in the house after a child is born, is another
risk factor.
And the latest study, led by Professor Peter Fleming, underlines that
sharing a sofa with a child is also a significant risk.
The Bristol team examined data on 369 SIDS cases that occurred between 1984
and 2003 in Avon.
These were compared to information on 1,300 healthy babies from a study
carried out between 1993 and 1996.
Deprivation link
The researchers found that although the number of deaths in the parental
bed had fallen by 50%, the number of deaths on a sofa shared with a parent
increased four-fold in recent years.
However, there are still about 135 bedsharing deaths a year in the UK,
compared to the 30 linked to sharing a sofa.
Professor Fleming said: "Although the reasons for the rise in deaths when a
parent sleeps with their infant on a sofa are unclear, we strongly recommend
that parents avoid this sleeping environment."
The study also found that that the proportion of SIDS deaths among poorer
families increased from 47% to 74%.
The proportion of deaths in which the mother smoked during pregnancy also
rose, from 57% to 86%.
The researchers are calling for a standard protocol to aid the
investigation of cot deaths and to enable as much relevant information to be
collected as possible.
Joyce Epstein, director of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death,
said: "Over 14,000 lives have been saved in the UK since the advice to reduce
the risk of cot death was introduced in 1991.
"But still over 300 babies every year in the UK are dying as cot deaths -
that's more babies over one month old than from any other cause.
"The battle against sudden infant death is far from over.
"It is absolutely vital that we get our safe infant care messages across
more forcefully, especially among the more vulnerable sections of society, and
that we continue our lifesaving research into the causes of cot death."
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