Infants should sleep in the same room as their parents -- but not in the same bed -- to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics advise.The recommendations call for babies to share their parents' bedroom for at least the first 6 months of life and, ideally, for the first year.

This could reduce the risk of sudden death by as much as 50 percent, the guideline authors say.

The rationale is that having the infant within view and reach makes for easier monitoring, comforting and feeding. Because the baby is nearby, parents might notice any potential difficulty, Jarris said.

"If we look at how strong the evidence is, parents will be well advised to adopt room sharing," Jarris said.

It's important, however, that infants have their own separate sleep surface, such as a crib or bassinet. They should never sleep on a soft surface like a couch or armchair, the doctors' group warns.

Nor should babies sleep in the same bed as their mothers, the guidelines say. But, since infants do feed throughout the night, the doctors recommend that mothers feed the baby in bed.

"Babies should be brought to bed for feeding, but following feeding they should be returned to a separate sleep surface," said report co-author Dr. Lori Feldman-Winter, a professor of pediatrics at Cooper Medical School in Camden, N.J.

"Breast-feeding can reduce SIDS by as much as 70 percent," added Feldman-Winter.

Because moms may sometimes fall asleep during feeding, the AAP recommends keeping the parents' bed free of pillows, loose sheets, blankets and other soft bedding that could suffocate the baby, she said.

Each year in the United States, some 3,500 babies die from sleep-related deaths, including SIDS. The number of infant deaths dropped in the 1990s after a national safe-sleep campaign that emphasized placing infants on their back. However, momentum has stalled in recent years, Feldman-Winter said.

Sources៖ www.webmd.com