SafetyNL understands co-sleeping, but points out risks for very young babies

Due to exhaustion and stress, parents may sometimes choose to put their newborn baby in bed with them. Mieke Cotterink of VeiligheidNL understands that choice, but also points out the risks. Co-sleeping with a baby younger than four months can lead to cot death. This is reported by VeiligheidNL.

Young babies who sleep in their parents’ bed have an increased risk of cot death. This is evident from research from 2004, in which twenty European countries participated. In 2021, a Dutch study showed the same results: 26 percent of babies under 4 months who died from cot death co-slept with parents. The risk of cot death is three times greater than when the baby and parent do not sleep in the same bed.

4 of Safe Sleep

Cotterink advocates that parents receive reliable advice, such as the 4 of Safe Sleep: on the back, in a sleeping bag, in their own empty bed. Your own bed or crib is still the safest place for a young baby to sleep. Co-sleepers that are placed against the parental bed or side-by-side beds are also practical and safe.

By: National Healthcare Guide / Johanne Levinsky
Image: Wieke Eefting