The thread on the Rock n Play and SIDS made me do some additional research and I found a really great site. All of the info is research based by a pediatrician.

http://cribsforkids.org/ask-the-pediatrician-faqs/

There is info about all kinds of sleep related SIDS issues including cribs and swaddles.

She does not recommend the Rock n Play for the following reasons:
1) infants can slide towards the bottom
2) the sides are close to the baby's face

We use the Rock n Play and I really like it. Lo needs to be at an incline due to reflux (although she disagrees with this too, but says to go with your doctor's rec). I'm going to continue using it for the time being (always monitored - I am inches from lo).

The article did remind me to make sure that lo is not overheated. We use the Halo sleepsack and it can get quite warm depending on what I put underneath.

I also liked the quick stats on this site:

http://www.cjsids.org/resource-center/sids-statistics.html