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by Caroline Lowe
(WCCO) Ever sleep with your baby because you were too tired to put him or her back in the crib or you just like the idea of spending some time close to your infant while you slept? You are not alone.

Many, if not most, parents have done that at some time. State health officials will kick off a campaign to educate parents about the risks involved when you do that. Tragically, at least 22 babies die a year in Minnesota because they accidentally suffocated while they slept in a chair or a bed with a parent or another child.

Some exhausted moms like Sonja Elias say co-sleeping is the only way they can get some rest.

"You take it when you can get it and if it's in the middle of the night laying next to each other, that's what you do to survive," said Elias.

Dr. Lindsey Thomas is the Regional Medical Examiner who supervises the morgue where she performs autopsies in Hastings, Minn. Since the first of the year Thomas has seen four baby deaths of this kind from the seven counties that she serves.

"The parents either partially roll over on top of the baby or put just their an arm on top of the baby's chest and end up killing the baby," said Thomas who is a forensic pathologist. "In 2006, 95 percent of the 60 plus infant deaths are related to unsafe sleep environments."

Thomas signs the baby's death certificates and must deliver the horrible news to distraught parents that they caused their infant's death. In most cases, the children died sleeping in a bed, in a chair or on a couch.

Thomas and her colleagues with the Minnesota Coroners' and Medical Examiners' Association have written a letter warning of the dangers of co-sleeping. It will be included in a mailing from the Minnesota Department of Health to doctors statewide that goes out next week. They want doctors to discuss sleep safety with parents and caregivers.

"We see the pain that unnecessary deaths causes families and we would like to be part of preventing that," said Thomas.

Like so many parents, when WCCO-TV's Caroline Lowe became a mom 22 years ago she sometimes slept with her newborn son after nursing him in the middle of the night or during an afternoon nap. Lowe never imagined that she might be putting him at risk.

Minnesota health officials say many parents are just as ignorant today as Lowe was back in 1984. That's why they are planning the safety education with Thomas and her colleagues.

"Because it is a practice that so many of us have followed that we don't think of this as a safety issue because it has been kind of culturally accepted," said Kathleen Fernbach who runs the Minnesota Sudden Infant Death Center.

Fernbach has seen SIDS deaths drop more than 50 percent in recent years after a "back to sleep" education campaign. She hopes this latest health campaign will have a similar impact on the number of babies who die from sleeping with their parents.

"Families will certainly make their own choices but we want people to be informed so they are making the best choice for themselves and the best choice for their children," said Fernbach.

The safety message is simple: Babies should sleep on their backs, in a bassinet or crib that is clear of bumpers, stuffed animals and pillows. They also recommend babies sleep in the parents' bedroom for at least the first six months.

Laurie Tarbox is the mother of twins. She said she never slept with her babies.

"I feel like they could roll over to into us or get smothered by a pillow or things like that. I just wouldn't want to take the risk," she said.

Thomas hopes more parents get the message because she doesn't want to tell another mom or dad they are responsible for their baby's death.

"These are totally preventable deaths. And you wouldn't have the guilt associated with wondering, did I kill my baby?" she said.

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