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Are Infants Who Sleep in Parents' Bed at Risk? A story about a string of five infant deaths in Detroit prompted a flood of e-mails from parents who sleep with their infants. Each of the babies in the Detroit cases was sleeping in a bed with an adult. So, is so-called "co-sleeping" safe?

Children's Health

Are Infants Who Sleep in Parents' Bed at Risk?

Heard on All Things Considered

Are Infants Who Sleep in Parents' Bed at Risk?

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A recent story about a string of five infant deaths in Detroit prompted a flood of e-mails from parents who sleep with their infants.

Each of the babies in the Detroit cases was sleeping in a bed with an adult. The incidents led the chief medical examiner there to issue a strong warning to parents against so-called "co-sleeping."

So, is co-sleeping safe? To help clarify the issue, Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and author of A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body, talks with Michele Norris.