HONESDALE -- The 4-week-old baby who died Monday was smothered by a sleeping adult, according to the Wayne County coroner.
The death has been ruled accidental.
The death may be another reminder of the dangers of parents sleeping with infants.
A recent study of infant deaths by the American Association of Pediatrics found that almost 70 percent of infants who died were "bed sharing" -- sleeping in the same bed as their parents when they died.
Few details have been released about a four-week-old baby boy who died in Honesdale Monday.
The county coroner ruled the cause of Channing Mullin's death asphyxia --being unable to breathe -- and Coroner Edward Howell added the boy was smothered while sleeping with an adult.
We don't know if one of the boy's parents was spending the night sleeping next to the child, which sometimes ends with an exhausted parent rolling over on the baby and suffocating the child.
Geisinger-CMC trauma nurse Debbie Clark says parents add to the dangers of bed sharing by drinking before turning in for the night.
Clark says parents need to take precautions when an infant is in their care and the parent finds themselves sleepy, no matter what room they are in.
"Bed sharing is always a bad idea," Clark said. "If you're extremely tired, it might be best to put that baby in a bassinette or somewhere where you don't run the risk of falling asleep and either dropping the child or rolling over on the child. And we talk about co-sleeping, but it can also happen on a couch or a recliner, any kind of furniture."
Many parents say bed sharing promotes bonding between a parent and the infant.
But many experts, including Debby Clark of Geisinger-CMC say that if parents place a child in a bassinette next to the bed or couch, they eliminate most risks.
