Review: bed sharing between parents and infants exposed to smoke may increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome
Q What are the benefits and harms of children <2 years of age sharing a bed with a parent or other adult?
METHODS
Data sources:
Medline, CINAHL, HealthSTAR, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Turning Research Into Practice database, and Allied and Alternative Medicine (1993 to January 2005).
Study selection and assessment:
English language, case–control and prospective cohort studies that evaluated the practice of bed sharing between adults and children 0–2 years of age. 17 case–control studies (3711 cases and 11 349 controls) and 10 cohort studies (n not reported) met the selection criteria. Quality assessment of individual studies was done using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.
Outcomes:
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), breast feeding, parent−child attachment (bonding), and awakenings during sleep.
MAIN RESULTS
Meta-analysis was not done because of heterogeneity across studies. Bed sharing increased the …
