It gives you that nice snuggly feeling, cuddling up with your baby in bed. The baby is crying and you bring it into bed with you. What a lovely bonding sort of thing to do. It is however an extremely bad idea.

Research by Nancy Solomon at Saint Luois University has shown that the risk of a baby suffocating is 40 times greater when it is sharing an adult bed. There has been a general understanding for some time that this was not such a good idea however this research indicates that the risks are much higher than first thought.

The study looked at reported deaths during the four-year period from 1995 to 1998, and found the risk of suffocation for babies in cribs was .63 deaths per 100,000 infants, compared 25.5 deaths per 100,000 infants who suffocate in adult beds.

This is because young babies lack the motor skills to extract themselves from suffocating situations and an adult bed provides the opportunity for many more of these situations than a cot.

Sudden infant death is a tragic event for any parent so resist that temptation to bring your baby into bed. Your baby belongs in a cot on lying on its back.

Read more here.