As one of the most paranoid moms on the planet, this was a bit of a surprise, and the information is definitely worth sharing.  Researchers have found that it is increasingly dangerous for young children to sleep on the sofa with Mom or Dad.  Cases of death have increased 400% over the past 20 years, while Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has decreased dramatically.  This Yahoo! article provides more details on the new precaution.

As highlighted in the article , the research team found that “...The numbers of deaths of babies in bed with their mothers has gone down by 50 percent but the number of deaths on a sofa with a parent has gone up by 400 percent, a four-fold increase....” The research also strongly supports the avoidance of smoking around infants.  “Eighty-six percent of babies in the study who died in the last 5 years had mothers who smoked...” according to the study.