Cosleeping is a dangerous habit that puts infants at risk of suffocation and other fatal injuries. So why are parents continuing to ignore warnings against doing it? It seems that this outdated method of accidentally killing your children is still trendy among certain parents, even though it is attributed to the deaths of multiple children every year. Will this ever change, or will children simply continue to die under unnecessary circumstances?
Recently a mother from Appleton, Wisconsin pleaded ‘no contest’ to killing her child by cosleeping. Nicole Sobay, 35, had meth and marijuana in her system, according to documents, at the time of the infant’s death. Cosleeping was to blame, and in the mother’s stupor she didn’t wake up while her child suffocated on its face. Another infant death associated with cosleeping occurred earlier this year. A young minnesota mom has been arrested after letting her infant die in bed with her while she slept in a drunken stupor.
The aforementioned cases of cosleeping-related deaths involve mothers who were under the influences of drugs and alcohol, but they do not represent the majority of cosleeping-related deaths. Other incidents widely involve the mothers simply sleeping through the night, not realizing that their infants are suffocating underneath them or under blankets and pillows. Other incidents have involved infants rolling off of the beds shared with their parents, leading to their deaths.
Even in the face of criminal charges, parents continue to ignore the warnings against cosleeping. Why?
Chelsea Hoffman is a true crime writer with over a decade of professional writing experience. She is best known for her coverage of missing people including the tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann as well as the heartbreaking cases of Dylan Redwine, Heather Elvis and many others.
