Norwegian parents avoid placing infants in prone sleeping positions but frequently share beds in hazardous ways.

AIM

Campaigns to prevent prone sleeping and other modifiable risk factors have greatly reduced the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome in Norway. Sleep-related infant deaths still occur sporadically and may be preventable. We studied infants' sleeping environments and whether parents followed safe sleep recommendations.

METHODS

Parents with infants up to 12 months of age were invited to complete an online questionnaire from May to December 2018. It was publicised by health centres and on websites and social media.

RESULTS

We received 4886 responses and 4150 met the age criteria and were included. Just under two-thirds (62.7%) reported routine bed-sharing, and this practice was associated with increased nocturnal breastfeeding, single parents and having more than one child. A small number of infants under six months were occasionally placed prone when they were laid down to sleep (2.1%) and 29.7% were placed on their side. Nearly three-quarters (72.6%) of the 2330 parents with infants under six months of age reported previous high-risk behaviour, such as sleeping together on a sofa or bed-sharing after smoking or drinking.

CONCLUSION

Norwegian parents rarely used prone sleeping positions for infants. However, bed-sharing was common, including high-risk scenarios such as smoking, alcohol use and sofas.