Tuesday, July 14, 2009

news article

it would be awesome if our gov't started taking this approach as well. I hope Sutherland succeeds in this initiative in the UK. There are safe ways to co-sleep, and these should be taught to all new parents, especially given that babies sleep much sounder with mom nearby, and a recent study estimated that the majority of parents ended up co-sleeping at one point or another (likely out of desperation, which is how we started when J was 2 days old lol). Better to teach parents how to be safe than make ridiculous fear based decrees. There are numerous advantages to co-sleeping, including lowered SIDS risks, more sleep for all involved, etc.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1083020.ece

ETA: NEWSFLASH!!! E JUST TOOK 3 INDEPENDENT STEPS!!!!!

7 comments:

Lexie said...

I think the big fear with that is that people only think of co-sleeping as in hte bed as it is, rather than the other options.

But sorry, to be honest, E taking 3 steps completely made me forget anything else I thought about this post. Go E GO!

Grandmere said...

I have to agree with Becs.
Yay, Eliot!

Grandmere said...

How do you prevent rolling over & smothering the baby in your sleep? I always feel saddest when I read of a mother that's happened to.

anne said...

it happens very rarely when parents are co-sleeping safely. that means no thick blankets, no covers, not drinking alcohol before bed etc. Babies regulate their heartbeats and breathing to their mothers, so research indicates that SIDS occurs much less frewuently among babies who sleep in near proximity to their mothers have significantly lower rates, as SIDS can be considered an immaturity of the area of the brain that regulates such funcitons. (bedsharing is also not exactly the same thing as co-sleeping, which defined means sharing a sleeping space, like a sidecarred crib or basinette right next to the bed, as well as bedsharing). what this article is calling for in britain is teaching parents how to co-sleep safely, which should minimize the danger. There was an article from about 3 years ago that detailed the cases of smothering from co-cleeping and it was determined that almost all of them were not the case of the parent rolling on top of the child (unless the parent was drunk) but rather the child smothering on a too soft mattress or bedcoverings.

Lexie said...

i just came back here and you hit what i was talking about. i think ppl always think bedsharing when they hear co-sleeping :) Pre-kids and even with Lexie who was in the side bassinette attached to the bed... I didn't realize at first that that was considered co-sleeping. LOL. It was a baby in her own place right next to where I slept :) I tell you, I am sooo incredibly smart ;)

Grandmere said...

That's why Joseph slept in the tub

Grandmere said...

I like the concept of co-sleeping, but what happens to the marital privacy of the MBR? Sincerely. At what age do the children move to another room? Have studies shown the separation to be less traumatic at a later age?

I was divorced and so this issue truly blesssed me. I did something right.