co-sleeping kills babyA baby who was found dead between a mattress and a wall after being put to bed in her mother's bed seemed initially to be a victim of co-sleeping. But now, the grandmother of the dead 5-month-old reports that the mother wasn't even in the bed.

Janenise Preston was left in her mother's bed and became wedged in a 6-inch space between the edge of the mattress and the wall, even though there was a crib in the bedroom. Apparently the mother did put the baby to sleep with her in the bed, then left at 4 a.m. after receiving a call from a male friend.

Yeah, it's not looking good for the 18-year-old mother.

While the grandmother and an uncle both live in the house with the mother and baby in Michigan, neither of them knew the young mom had left the house early in the morning. In fact, the grandmother went to check on the baby and her mother at 6 a.m. and found a cold, dead baby girl who had apparently suffocated.

While most people co-sleep without incident, if there is any amount of space between your wall and your bed where your baby could slip into -- fix it. This is one way babies are smothered when parents co-sleep improperly. Loose blankets and lots of pillows is another. Dr. Sears is a good source for safe co-sleeping information, so be sure you check out what he has to say before you decide to try it.

Although this was an absent mother, she clearly went to bed with the baby but decided to abandon the baby, alone, in her bed while she went out for some fun. That's not a caring, co-sleeping mother. But being smothered while co-sleeping has happened when precautions are not taken.

Does this make you scared to co-sleep?

 

Image via geishaboy500/Flickr