JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Police are investigating a 10-week-old baby girl who they said died while sleeping in a bed with someone else.
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Action News Jax spoke with a local pediatrician who is warning parents not to co-sleep with their infants. That pediatrician also said he sees these preventable deaths every year.
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“Never co-sleep with a child in the bed,” Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen said.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the 10-week-old girl died Sunday night after being found unresponsive at a home on Lambing Road in Jacksonville Heights.
Officers said the infant was co-sleeping with someone else, and at this time no foul play is suspected.
Dr. Goldhagen, a local pediatrician at UF Health, said these types of deaths are avoidable, and he doesn’t recommend co-sleeping any time.
READ: JSO: Jacksonville baby dies while co-sleeping with mother, police investigating
“I discourage co-sleeping because we have four to five or so, maybe more deaths a year from suffocation and secondary to co-sleeping,” Dr. Goldhagen said.
According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, so far in 2024, our area has seen four deaths in Bradford, Columbia, Clay, and Duval Counties all involving infants sleeping with their mothers.
Dr. Goldhagen said that newborns do not belong on beds.
“Beds are made for adults. They aren’t made for babies and so having soft mattresses and pillows in an adult bed is dangerous for babies,” Goldhagen said.
Dr. Goldhagen said that no babies should die due to co-sleeping, but parents are a critical part of preventing these kinds of deaths.
READ: 5 babies die from co-sleeping in 2 weeks in Northeast Florida
“We do want babies to be sleeping in the rooms with the parents in particular breastfeeding moms,” he said. “They can stay in a crib, or as I mentioned there is a bed extensions that families can use to put those babies in bed extensions.”
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JSO is asking that if anyone has any information on this incident to call them on the non-emergency number at 904-630-0500.
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