When I heard James McKeana speak this last fall in Seattle he gave a historical perspective on overlaying, he said that it was a form of infancide that was practiced in Europe during the 17th and 18th century. The women would lay over the baby until it suffocated hence the term overlaying. It was practiced most often in the cities where poor women would literally be forced into this practice because they could not feed or care for the great number of children they would have. When the practice came to the attention of the governments and the Catholic church it became illegal to sleep with your babies. I am sure that this piece of history influnces the attitudes we still have about sleeping with babies. He did quote some numbers of the babies who died in their parents bed in the U.S which I can not remeber. I do know that the numbers of reported deaths of babies sleeping in cribs was much higher.. Kathy D. do you have these numbers on file? Pat Gorman CLE gorman @ wvi.com