Pediatricians: Babies Should Sleep In Same Room As Parents

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for infants to be kept in their parents' bedroom at night for six months to a year in order to lessen the risk of sleep-related death.

The new recommendations say babies should sleep on a separate surface, in a crib or bassinet and never on something soft. The guidelines say babies should sleep in the same room as their parents, preferably until they're a year old. The AAP says room-sharing lessens the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by as much as 50 percent.

Other recommendations include always placing a baby on its back to sleep and avoiding use of crib bumpers, blankets, pillows and soft toys.

The AAP says about 3,500 infants suffer sleep-related deaths every year in the U.S.

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