Cosleeping Safety

Whether to cosleep is a very personal decision that each individual family should make for itself. If you feel strongly that cosleeping is the right decision for your family, you should do the following to protect your child's safety:

• Remove the bed from the frame, position the mattress on the floor, and place pillows around the perimeter of the bed. This will protect your baby from a fall.


• Go to sleep when your baby does to provide adequate supervision.


• If your baby is under 6 months of age, position all blankets and pillows away from his body to avoid suffocation or airway obstruction.


• If your baby is mobile, safety-proof your bedroom to protect him against injury should he decide to leave the bed in the night.


• Avoid taking medications, drinking alcohol or smoking in close proximity to a baby under 12 months old and avoid letting older siblings sleep in a bed with your baby. All of these have been shown to be risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome in cosleeping families.