I hope the guys and gals over at the American Academy of Pediatrics have their flak jackets and helmets handy -- because the latest recommendations from the AAP on reducing the risk of crib death are cultural dynamite.

Yes, they've burst right into the bedrooms of exhausted parents of newborns with the following advice: do give your infant a pacifier to help her go to sleep, and don't share your bed with her. (And, while you're at it, make sure to have her lying on her back when she sleeps, take away the stuffies and the blankies, and keep the little snorfler in your bedroom rather than relying on a baby monitor.)

Why would the good doctors take such a risk of arousing the wrath of a) supporters of breastfeeding, b) abhorrers of pacifiers and c) adherents of attachment parenting? Well, crib death -- aka sudden infant death syndrome -- remains the leading cause of infant deaths beyond the newborn period in this country. While these sudden, unexplained deaths have been on the decline, recently the rate has stabilized at about 2,500 per year.

Recent research has indicated that the rate is higher among infants who don't use pacifiers; higher among babies who share a family bed; and lower among those who sleep in cribs or bassinets in their parent's bedroom rather than in their own room, even with a baby monitor.

Reducing crib death is a critically important goal for the AAP -- but it would be nice to see the new recommendations accompanied by a serious push to encourage and promote breastfeeding, which also has significant health benefits (including being associated with a lower rate of crib death). The "fine print" of the AAP recommendations include the advice to not use pacifiers for the first month of life if the baby is being breastfed -- but isn't explicit about whether or not this one-month delay presents a significant risk, or how to weigh the risks and benefits.

I suppose what we'd all most like to see would be a clear explanation of the causes of crib death, and a firm understanding of how to prevent it. Until then, the AAP is doing the best it can -- and parents, as always, will be the ones making the important decisions about balancing risks and benefits.

And it is a balancing act. My doctors made it very clear, when my first child was born, that babies should always be put to sleep on their tummies (so they wouldn't choke if they spit up). I obeyed, putting my child at risk every naptime and bedtime. When number two came along, my doctors were also clear: babies put to sleep on their sides had the best of both worlds: less risk of crib death, less risk of choking. Since this baby was considerably more round than square, I struggled mightily to get him balanced on his side. Since then, the medical profession has noticed that babies put to sleep on their sides will in fact roll over eventually, and ushered in the back-sleeping-only era.

Please, AAP, just don't ask us to balance them on their little feet.