February 2011 Archives
The Truth about Co-sleeping: Breastfeeding is the Key!
As a supporter of keeping a newborn baby with mom 24/7, I always thought co-sleeping makes a lot of sense. Just, look around the world, many culture do it, without any second thought!
After a sad accident in Milwaukee, back in May 2010, one legislator got very upset and started a campaign against co-sleeping or bed-sharing), making it a point to scare the whole state if not the whole country. What they failed to do is distinguish between the actual co-sleeping (safely practiced by 13 % of Americans in 2003 now estimated at almost 20%), proven to reduce SIDS, and increase bonding AND plain negligence or dare I say stupidity.
Please, watch TO THE END this (less than 10 min) video on a great piece that FOX 6 Milwaukee ran shortly after the event.
Video: Is sharing a bed with your infant right or wrong?
Like in everything involving a newborn baby, co-sleeping needs to follow some rules (mostly common sense, if you ask me):
- BOTH parents need to be aware of the infant’s presence
- Co-sleeping needs to be consistent and constant, not “occasional” or “out of exhaustion”
- Neither parent should smoke nor drink, or on mind-altering medications,
- Sheets need to be tight, no heavy blankets, and the mattress needs to be firm
- Bedding cannot go over the baby’s face
- Baby’s head should not be on pillow(s)
- Space between mattress and headboard or mattress and wall should be “closed”.
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE: BREASTFEED YOUR BABY or don’t even think of taking him with you in bed!
Also, when you hear of alarming stats, consider this:
In this country, when babies die from co-sleeping (it is called “death by adult bed”), the statistic includes:
- Drunk fathers passing out on the couch or in bed holding the baby
- A woman falling asleep in a couch and smothering her infant
- Frustrated parents that bring the baby into bed in the middle of the night for the first time without informing the other parent.
- Babies sliding between the mattress and the headboard
- Babies falling on the floor in a pile of clothes or a plastic bag and suffocating
- The family dog laying on the baby’s face in the family bed
- SIDS that happen while co-sleeping
AND NO ONE CARED TO MENTION THAT ALL the babies who died in an adult bed are bottle-fed!!!! Watch the FOX6 video!
Do you see why I was talking of stupidity? Many baby’s deaths are wrongly included into the category “death by adult bed” when they actually are completely unrelated. For crib sleeping, they break it down into multiple categories even though there are very few changing factors.
If a baby died in a crib that had broken slats, a body pillow instead of a mattress, a whole bunch of stuffed animals and the family dog in it, would you consider it the same as an infant dying in an empty, clean crib with tight sheets? I wouldn’t either… Yet when it comes to “death by adult bed/co-sleeping” statistics, there is no distinction, no sub-categories that would give proper information.
Consider that in almost all other countries, SIDS is referred to as “crib death” or “cot death.” It’s never seen in breastfeeding, co-sleeping families who follow the common sense rule mentioned above.
Now, when you read the American Association of Pediatrics recommendations, based on studies like Dr N.J. Scheers, in 2003, also consider that companies like Nestle gave them millions of US dollars. Don’t know about crib companies, but one might wonder…
For a very detailed report on the crib industry claim and a thorough review of the research until 2005 , go to Babybond blog and read their very helpful fact sheet on the subject.
So, with all that information, what would you do?
If you have shared you bed with your baby (or are co-sleeping now), please let new mom know what your experience was (is).
Thank you for sharing!
Continue reading The Truth about Co-sleeping: Breastfeeding is the Key!
