Rise in Infant Suffocations Renews Debate On Bed-Sharing

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 26, 2009

Infant deaths blamed on accidental strangulation and suffocation in bed have increased sharply in the United States, federal health officials are reporting today, reigniting a heated debate over the rising number of parents who sleep with their babies.

An analysis of death certificates nationwide found that the rate of fatalities attributed to unintentional suffocation and strangulation in the first year of life quadrupled between 1984 and 2004. the rest