Is co-sleeping safe in the first six months?

What the evidence says

Major pediatric guidelines do not consider bed-sharing (sleeping on the same surface as your baby) safe in the first six months. The American Academy of Pediatrics states plainly that on the basis of current evidence, it cannot recommend bed sharing under any circumstances, and instead advises room-sharing without bed-sharing, ideally for the first six months to a year.

The risk isn't the same for every family. Data show the risk of sleep-related infant death while bed sharing is 5 to 10 times higher when your baby is younger than 4 months old, and 2 to 5 times higher if your baby was born preterm or with low birth weight. Risk climbs even further with parental smoking, alcohol, certain medications, extreme exhaustion, or sleeping on a sofa or armchair.

What is recommended instead: keep your baby's crib, bassinet, or portable crib in your room, close to your bed, but on its own separate, firm sleep surface. This is called room-sharing, and it can decrease the risk of SIDS by as much as 50% and it's much safer than bed sharing.

Some researchers note the evidence isn't unanimous. One UK case-control analysis found no significant overall link between bed-sharing and SIDS when no other hazards were present, though it still found bed sharing should be avoided if parents consume alcohol, smoke or take drugs or if the infant is pre-term. Overall, though, national guidelines side firmly with room-sharing, not bed-sharing, for the first six months.