To the Editor: The concerns expressed by Byard and colleagues about “safe-sleeping messages”1 are based on the assumption that bed-sharing (mother and baby sleeping on the same bed surface) is intrinsically dangerous.

While some case–control studies have shown increased mortality for young (but not older) bed-sharing babies of non-smoking mothers, more detailed studies have found excess risk only among parents affected by alcohol, extreme overtiredness, overcrowded housing, or where the sleeping environment was unsuitable, including prone or side sleeping, heavy bedding, waterbeds and sofas.2