Bedtime risky for infants

Despite the best efforts of area hospitals and health officials to educate the public, accidental suffocation remains a steady killer of Lowcountry babies.

In addition to the risks posed by blankets, pillows and toys, co-sleeping — falling asleep with a baby in an adult bed or on the couch — can turn fatal.

The Charleston County Coroner's Office handles about 10 infant deaths a year, said Deputy Coroner Bobbi Jo O'Neal, and most are related to co-sleeping or some form of unsafe sleeping.

Babies are vulnerable when sleeping with others in adult beds or on couches, O'Neal said. Small babies can slip between the mattress and headboard or into a couch corner and can suffocate.

Co-sleeping remains controversial because some advocates of breast feeding say the practice encourages bonding. Dr. Kara Huncik, a pediatrician with Coastal Pediatrics, which has offices in West Ashley and Mount Pleasant, said she frequently runs into parents who don't want to give up co- sleeping.

"Parents have a big job trying to synthesize all the information they receive," Huncik said. She supports the position of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which maintains co- sleeping never should occur.

Dr. Marshall Goldstein, medical director of neonatology at Bon Secours St. Francis and Roper hospitals, recalled two infant deaths in the last few years.

In both cases, healthy babies were found in their parents' beds, and one was underneath the blanket at the foot of the bed.

"When we're asleep we don't have control of our bodies," Goldstein said. A baby could end up underneath an adult, pillow or blanket.

Of 62,191 babies born in South Carolina in 2006, 520 died before their first birthday, according to the most recent data available from the state's Department of Health and Environmental Control. Twenty-two of those infants perished from accidental suffocation, Goldstein said.

Babies should be dressed in a one-piece sleeper outfit and placed in a crib on a mattress covered by a tight-fitting sheet — no blankets, bumper guards, carousels, pillows or toys, Goldstein said. Pacifiers are recommended.

Keeping the room at 70 degrees and a ceiling fan on low have been shown to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, according to experts.

If babies die in the first year of life with no known cause, including suffocation, and no anatomical reason is discovered, SIDS is the recorded cause of death.

Getting the word out to extended family is important, Goldstein said, because one in five cases of SIDS occur when people other than the parents are caring for the baby.