Co-sleeping?

FrumDoula · Jul 20, 2005

What do you guys know (not think, not opine ) about the true risks of co-sleeping.
I co-slept with all of mine, and Dr. Sear's (whom I greatly admire) recommends it, but I never hear anything but bad things about it. When my infant daughter was hospitalized the nurses didn't want me to sleep with her on my cot. I hear nurses warning new mothers against it. What confuses me is that in the anti-SIDS recommendations they advise against co-sleeping, though my understanding is that SIDS is, by definition, *not* suffocation.
Is co-sleeping dangerous because we westerners don't tend to sleep on mats on the floor? Can its dangers be mitigated in some way? Or is the danger a bit of hype.
Has anyone seen any studies?

Actually, let's flip the language around a little. (Sound familiar, everyone?) The question could be: What are the real risks of crib sleeping? After all, most babies who die of SIDS do so in cribs, not next to their mothers. (Exceptions are noted, of course.)

Having said that, there is a good amount of research. Let me first refer you to a researcher named Dr. James McKenna, who works out of the University of Notre Dame's Mother-Baby Sleep Laboratory.

http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/

He's done a lot in this area, and his findings are fascinating. In short, it appears that co-sleeping may actually confer a variety of advantages to both mother and baby, and LOWER the risk of SIDS. The physiology of co-sleeping is fascinating!!!!

The recommendation by the CPSC that no one should cosleep with their babies was ludicrous and based on very sketchy "evidence" indeed. (And, at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, could lobbying by crib manufacturers have had anything to do with their recommendations?!) What they should have said instead was how to SAFELY sleep with your baby. That is a recommendation that would have made sense.

Tons of parents sleep safely with their children, and the negative association with it is based more in our cultural understanding of parenting choices than a true evidence-based understanding of what babies need. In other words, if a nurse or doc tells you it's unsafe to cosleep, they're giving their OPINION. And it's an uninformed one at that. According to Dr. McKenna, worldwide research suggests that cosleeping protects the childs health and is a safer option than sleeping separately from your baby.

It could be that hospital liability laws prevent nurses from encouraging cosleeping. Still, they can't deny the mother her baby, and I know I slept with my baby snuggled in my arms in the hospital. It made breastfeeding a ton easier, too.

Note that I'm simply addressing the evidence to date. Some parents can't or won't cosleep, or have to find workable arrangements if co-sleeping is too difficult. There's tons of variations on the theme of co-sleeping that can protect the child physiologically and ensure the parent adequate sleep.

Alison

amber1142 · Jul 20, 2005

Actually, let's flip the language around a little. (Sound familiar, everyone?) The question could be: What are the real risks of crib sleeping? After all, most babies who die of SIDS do so in cribs, not next to their mothers. (Exceptions are noted, of course.)
Having said that, there is a good amount of research. Let me first refer you to a researcher named Dr. James McKenna, who works out of the University of Notre Dame's Mother-Baby Sleep Laboratory.
http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/

Thanks for the link, Alison. I remember when my son was born 12 years ago that I read some research that suggested the same think about lowering SIDS risk- something about sleep-wake cycles and in-sync breathing.

It just doesn't make sense to me that babies were intended to sleep in cribs across the room from their mothers, but I want to find some back-up for my opinion.

fergus51 · Jul 20, 2005

Most SIDS deaths occur in cribs because most babies sleep in cribs.

This is the main problem I have with cosleeping:

"Infants should sleep on firm surfaces, clean surfaces, in the absence of smoke, under light (comfortable ) blanketing and their heads should never be covered. The bed should not have any stuffed animals or pillows around the infant"

This is the recommendation from the website you posted and the same thing I have been told to instruct parents when I worked PP. The problem is most parents beds aren't set up that way.

suzanne4, RN · Jul 20, 2005

Unfortunately, I have witnessed deaths of two infants fairly recently because a parent actually rolled over them while they were sleeping, and didn't realize it.

Once you see that, you will ber very anti that. Everyone moves when they sleep, simple as that.

Boston-RN, RN · Jul 20, 2005

Unfortunately, I have witnessed deaths of two infants fairly recently because a parent actually rolled over them while they were sleeping, and didn't realize it.

Unforntunatly this happened to someone I know. Fell asleep w/ baby on his chest and suffocated the child. 12 days old

leopold · Jul 20, 2005

My sister found a "crib" that could be attached to the side of her bed. So she was always next to her baby but there was no risk of rolling over. Neat idea.

jkaee · Jul 20, 2005

(After I woke up this morning with 3 kids in my bed.... :chuckle )

I have always slept with my babies....makes nursing so much easier and lets you get more sleep as well. My 2 year old still sleeps with either her daddy or me. I know from experience that they will eventually go into their own beds in their own time. That being said, I would not recommend it for everyone. I happen to be very aware when my babies sleep with me. I have never rolled over or "lost track" of my babies when they were in bed with me. But not everyone is like that. That's why I wouldn't necessarily endorse co-sleeping. I'd be too afraid of the heavy sleepers out there unintentionally doing harm to their baby. So I can completely understand why co-sleeping is not endorsed and is even discouraged. But, to be honest, some of my fondest memories are of cold winter mornings snuggling with my baby in our warm bed while she was nursing, and her every once and while breaking away to give me a great big milky smile and then snuggle back into me.

momandnurse28 · Jul 20, 2005

My sister has a few month old. She co-slept with her first baby and got one of the bedside co-sleepers for her second. She loves it-she is able to nurse the baby without getting up and does not worry about smothering the baby. If the baby cries she is right there to comfort him. As for me...my kids are 3 and 5 and much to my dismay...they still co-sleep.

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Jul 20, 2005

I can certainly speak to the issue of co-sleeping in the hospital with children. I was a pediatric night nurse for ten years.

Problems arise with parents rolling over on IV tubing, dressings, skin grafts and the like. I saw more IVs pulled out because Mom or Dad rolled over on it than I can count.

Many times, I also saw that the child did not get the bed space they needed and were squashed by the parent. We often had to get the parent out of the bed (bedside cots were provided) in order to care for the child and let them sleep.

These concerns are very specific to the acute hospital setting. I have no issues with home or hospice behavior.

allnurses Guide · Jul 20, 2005

Another co-sleeper here . . . :) All 4 kids. Not at the same time however.

The cases of suffocation are small in relation to the overall amount of people who co-sleep, according to research.

The only reason our discharge instructions say DO NOT LET THE BABY SLEEP WITH YOU is because years ago an obese and intoxicated mom rolled over on her baby and suffocated her and she had delivered here so the hospital, to CYA, puts that on the instructions.

I however print out Dr. Sear's instructions for safe co-sleeping.

I know parents are going to co-sleep . . .I'd rather they had accurate information than put some disclaimer on the d/c instructions. I don't think that serves our parents and children well at all.

My youngest turns 4 on the 22 of July and still sleeps with us.

steph

FrumDoula · Jul 20, 2005

Unfortunately, I have witnessed deaths of two infants fairly recently because a parent actually rolled over them while they were sleeping, and didn't realize it.
Once you see that, you will ber very anti that. Everyone moves when they sleep, simple as that.

Were the parents drunk, drugged or obese?