In an effort to promote safety for our children, Massachusetts child injury attorney Neil Burns notes the following research reported in a British study. It was determined that there was a very high incidence of infant death among families that allowed their babies, average age 66 days old, to sleep in the beds with them. The incidence was higher when associated with alcohol or drug use by the parents. The physicians who undertook the study concluded that “many of the sudden infant death syndrome infants had co-slept in a hazardous environment.”
The Bristol, England researchers who published their results in the British Medical Journal found that the “safest place for an infant to sleep is in a cot beside the parents’ bed.” They concluded that “parents also need to be reminded that they should never co-sleep with an infant in any environment if they have consumed alcohol or drugs.”
In Massachusetts, we are fortunate to have significant medical resources, including the Massachusetts Center for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome located at the Boston Medical Center and the upcoming SIDS Race for Life on October 3, 2010.