In a 2018 report published by the Virginia State Child Fatality Review Team, the following factors were determined based on a comprehensive review of 339 non-natural infant deaths from 2014 to 2016:

• 87% were related to an unsafe sleep environment
• 84.5% of infants were sleeping on surface not intended for sleep at the time of their death
• 82% of fatalities occurred in the infant's primary residence
• 52% of fatalities were related to co-sleeping (bed-sharing)
• Nearly three in five infants who died were three months of age or younger
• Almost half were exposed to secondhand smoke

The top four risk factors for sleep-related deaths were:

• soft bedding (92.6%)
• sleeping on an inappropriate sleep surface (84.5%)
• co-sleeping/bed sharing (52.1%)
• second-hand smoke (49.7%)