Infants should share room with parents until first year
The American Academy of Pediatrics has released new safe infant-sleeping practices.
About 3,500 infants die each year from sleep-related deaths and it's hoped these new recommendations will lower that number.
The academy now recommends that parents share a room with their baby until they are one year old, or at least six months old.
They say that will cut the risk of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, by as much as 50 percent.
The academy is also saying that infants should sleep in a separate space from the parents, such as a crib, or bassinet, and not on a couch, armchair, or another soft surface.
Parents who still plan to co-sleep should use a firm mattress and make sure pillows, sheets and blankets are removed from the bed.
Experts also said that if mothers think they may fall asleep while breastfeeding, it is safer to do so on a bed than on the couch.
