Safe Bedding For Infants Is Necessary: Suffocation Or Sudden Death Syndrome Is An Issue

A new study has found that safe bedding is necessary for infants. 

Too many U.S. infants reportedly sleep with blankets, pillows or other bedding that is deemed unsafe as they can lead to suffocation or sudden infant death syndrome, according to Fox News. 

The study, which was published on December 1 in Pediatrics, shows more than half of young American parents still use soft bedding for their sleeping babies although the American Academy of Pediatrics had reportedly warned that this kind of bedding is not safe, according to the Utah Peoples Post. 

Scientists reportedly analyzed findings from the National Infant Sleep Position survey conducted between 1993 and 2010. In the survey, 19,000 parents reportedly answered questions regarding their baby's sleep position and environment via telephone interviews. 

Almost 7 out of 9 reportedly used blankets or other soft bedding for their infants in 1993. Although parents using these types of bedding reportedly dropped over the years, more than half were still doing so by 2010. 

"Some infant deaths, especially in the prone position, occur when the infant is far down on a pillow or soft toy," Peter Blair, UK expert in infant and child health, stated. 

Shapiro-Mendoza, Senior Scientist at the Centers for Disease Control, reportedly stated that babies should sleep on a firm, safety approved mattress with a fitted sheet, without additional bedding. It is also reportedly crucial to place the baby to sleep in a crib or bassinet on his or her back. 

The decline in SIDS deaths is reportedly attributed to the government's Back to Sleep campaign emphasizing the importance of how to position your infant in order to lower sleep-related risks. 

Sleep-related infant deaths "are tragic and they're just not necessary," stated study co-author Marian Willinger, a SIDS expert at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.