[deadwisdom]

The co-sleeping seems to stem from all the SIDS research / literature which when you go and read seems especially questionable. The topic of SIDS was hit so hard by our hospital and pediatrician. It scares the shit out of you. And then you go read the sources, and it's... well underwhelming at best.

[infinite8s]

SIDS basically means they have no fucking clue why the child died, so everything gets thrown into the SIDS bucket.

[Cogito]

That's why they tend to talk about Sudden Unexpected Infant Death these days.

My understanding is that the primary concern is the ability of the child to breathe normally. Anything which restricts that ability can be life threatening.

Having their face covered (very easy to do when they sleep between two adults who pull the covers up when they're cold) or pushing their face up against a non-breathable material (windproof bassinets, pillows, soft toys) leads to a lack of air circulation which can lead to CO2 buildup. This is particularly a problem when their muscles aren't strong enough to turn their head or roll over.