The United States' largest group of pediatricians has released guidelines for lessening the risk from sudden infant death syndrome.

They include:

Babies should be offered pacifiers at bedtime.

They should sleep in their parents' room - but not in their beds.

They they should only sleep on their backs - not on their sides or stomach.

And fluffy bedding or stuffed toys should be removed from cribs.

Dr. Rachel Moon said offering a pacifier may help prevent babies from sleeping too deeply - a problem for babies that are prone to SIDS. Moon helped draft the new recommendations on SIDS prevention for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The death rate from SIDS has fallen sharply but it remains the leading cause of death in U.S. infants between ages one month and one year.

"Over 2,000 babies a year are still dying. We should be able to do something about that," said Dr. John Kattwinkel of the University of Virginia, chairman of the academy's SIDS task force.

The pediatricians emphasized that they support breast-feeding but do not recommend that a baby and nursing mother sleep together.

The doctors also recommended delaying the use of a pacifier for breast-fed infants during the first month of life -- when SIDS risks are low -- "to ensure that breast-feeding is firmly established."