--- title: Biggest Risks to Sleeping Babies Includes Bed Sharing, Objects description: New study reveals the greatest risks canonical: https://time.com/2981428/infant-baby-sleeping-death-study/ author: Mirren Gidda article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-14T14:09:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:39.149Z article:section: Health og:title: Biggest Risks to Sleeping Babies Includes Bed Sharing, Objects og:description: New study reveals the greatest risks og:url: https://time.com/2981428/infant-baby-sleeping-death-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24b3b863468c22e0/69869b95810bbb051ec9294e/bears_crib.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5700 og:image:height: 3206 og:image:alt: Teddy bears on crib og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biggest Risks to Sleeping Babies Includes Bed Sharing, Objects twitter:description: New study reveals the greatest risks twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24b3b863468c22e0/69869b95810bbb051ec9294e/bears_crib.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Alarming Reasons Infants Die in Bed > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Mirren Gidda](https://time.com/author/mirren-gidda/) ## Mirren Gidda Jul 14, 2014 2:09 PM UTC  Teddy bears on crib Teddy bears on crib Image Source/Getty Images by [Mirren Gidda](https://time.com/author/mirren-gidda/) ## Mirren Gidda Jul 14, 2014 2:09 PM UTC Sharing a bed and objects in bed are [the biggest risk factors](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/14/bed-sharing-risks%5Fn%5F5578744.html) for sleeping infants, according to [a new study](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/gca?gca=pediatrics%3Bpeds.2014-0401v1&submit=Get+All+Checked+Abstracts). The study published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday found that babies aged 0-3 months were most likely to die as a result of bed-sharing. For older infants ages four months to a year, the greatest risk for sleep-related death is objects in the sleep environment, the study found. The study relied on a database compiled between 2004 and 2012—using information from 24 states—by the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths. Researchers analyzed 8,207 deaths in total. Of the younger victims, 74% were sharing a bed at the time of their death. The study defines “bed-sharing” as sleeping with a person or an animal. Of the older victims, 39% of deaths happened in a sleep area containing an object such as a blanket or a pillow. And 18% changed their sleeping position from on their side or on their back to prone. But the study makes it clear that it hasn’t uncovered any clear cause and effect. Instead it states its “objective was to determine any associations between risk factors for sleep-related deaths at different ages.” The American Academy of Pediatrics [guidelines](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/10/12/peds.2011-2284.full.pdf+html) on safe sleep environments suggest placing babies on their back on a firm surface, in the same room as their parents, and with no soft objects or loose bedding until the age of one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2981428/infant-baby-sleeping-death-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2981428/infant-baby-sleeping-death-study/"},"headline":"The Alarming Reasons Infants Die in Bed","datePublished":"2014-07-14T14:09:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:39.149Z","description":"New study reveals the greatest risks","url":"https://time.com/2981428/infant-baby-sleeping-death-study/","keywords":["Research","Living","Pediatrics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24b3b863468c22e0/69869b95810bbb051ec9294e/bears_crib.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mirren Gidda","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mirren-gidda/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24b3b863468c22e0/69869b95810bbb051ec9294e/bears_crib.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Teddy bears on crib","caption":"Teddy bears on crib","creditText":"Image Source/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2981428/infant-baby-sleeping-death-study/","name":"The Alarming Reasons Infants Die in Bed"}}]}] ```