Study Shows Half Of Infants Sleep in Unsafe Bedding

Recent studies say too many babies aren't being put to bed properly, and it's leading to suffocation or SIDS.

According to Fox News, the National Institutes of Health and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted an annual telephone survey of around 20,000 parents. The survey found that more than half of parents use blankets and other soft bedding that puts infants at risk of suffocating.

While the numbers had dropped from 7 out of 8 in 1993, the improved rate still lead to around 2,000 sudden infant death syndrome cases in 2010.

Many experts have warned against using blankets, quilts, cushiony crib bumpers, pillows and soft toys in baby beds.

So if blankets and other soft things babies love are dangerous to sleep with, what can parents do?

Well, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Safe To Sleep campaign emphasizes putting babies to sleep on their backs, not stomachs, and to never let them sleep on a couch, waterbed, or sheepskin.

The safest bet is to put infants to bed in safe sleepwear like one-piece sleepers that can't be shifted in the baby's sleep, and to simply keep the room at comfortable temperature.