Warning issued for parents sleeping with babies after spate of deaths

A fresh warning has been issued about the dangers of co-sleeping with your child after two baby girls tragically died in Tasmania.

The deaths of two baby girls in northern Tasmania were a result of co-sleeping with their respective parents, a coroner has ruled.

“Baby E” was five months old when she suffocated while in the same bed as her parents and four-year-old brother in May 2018.

In October of the same year, the mother of “Baby I”, who was about a month old, woke to find her unresponsive after the pair fell asleep together on a couch.

Coroner Simon Cooper said both deaths were a stark and tragic reminder of the dangers of adults sleeping with infants.

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The coroner found there was no suspicious circumstances but warned of the dangers of co-sleeping with babies.

“Coroners and child health care professionals have warned, over and over again, of the danger to infants of co-sleeping,” he wrote in findings published on Tuesday.

“I take this opportunity … to remind parents and carers of the importance of ensuring that an infant sleeps safely by him/herself in a cot or bassinet.”

Mr Cooper said there were no suspicious circumstances in either death.

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WHAT IS CO-SLEEPING?

Co-sleeping is when parents sleep with their babies in the same bed and Red Nose Australia warns it “isn’t always safe” to do so.

If parents chose to co-sleep Red Nose recommends:

-Always placing babies on their back, not on their side or tummy.

-Sleeping with a baby to the side of one parent rather in the middle of two of them or next to pets and other children.

-Sleep on a clean and firm mattress.

-Keep adult sized-pillows and bedding clear from the baby.

-Make sure the baby isn’t in danger of falling off the bed.

Parents shouldn’t co-sleep with babies when:

-They have consumed alcohol or have taken drugs that make them drowsy.

-If you or another adult in the bed smoke.

-If you or the baby are unwell.

-If is small for their age or was born premature.