I believe the more important question is not whether an advice-giver can
be sued if a baby dies as a RESULT of co-sleeping but rather if a baby
dies WHILE co-sleeping.  There is a presumption of cause and effect,
which is a dangerous inaccuracy.  It seems to me it would be difficult
to prove that a baby died specifically as a result of co-sleeping rather
than in spite of co-sleeping. 

In a similar vein, any unusual illness a baby or mother suffers during
breastfeeding is presumed to be caused by breastfeeding, since
breastfeeding is seen as a deviance from the normal pattern.

Alternatively, one wonders if advice-givers can be sued if the baby dies
while NOT co-sleeping, if those parents had been advised against
co-sleeping. The argument might be made that there IS a basis for
presuming cause and effect in this situation (n.b. McKenna's work).

Babies will continue to die for a myriad of reasons, not all of which
are foreseeable or preventable.  Co-sleeping is not an absolute
guarantee against mortality, nor is anything else.  Even if in some
cases it could be proved that a baby died as a result of co-sleeping,
the incidence of these cases would have to be higher than the rates of
infant mortality occurring when sleeping apart in order to make
co-sleeping a poor decision.

Arly Helm, MS, IBCLC

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