>We seem to have a few cases yearly of infant deaths while sleeping with
>parents.  I cannot advocate sleeping with a newborn in bed.  I just did a
>well-baby exam a few weeks ago on an apparently healthy one month old.
>Parents fell asleep with him in bed - woke up with him pressed between
>them - not breathing.  Anything that might reduce this occurrence should be
>advocated and stressed to parents.  Who would give a guarantee to any parent
>that this won't occur with co-bedding?  And
>imagine how the parents must feel?  We should advocate/educate any measures
>to reduce SIDS and/or suffocation.
>Diane  RNC, MSN, PNP


No argument about needing to reduce SIDS and/or suffocation,
Diane...but we have to go to the research (eg James McKenna's, Helen
Ball's, the big UK case-control study -  Blair PS, Fleming PJ. Smith
I, et al (1999). Babies sleeping withparents: case-control study of
factors influencing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. BMJ
319: 1457-62) surely, before we begin to advise against what is a
universal behaviour, historically and geographically.

There's tons on this stuff in the Lactnet archives, too.

It may be that the parameters for safe co-sleeping would not include
a small newborn between two adults who (for example) have been
drinking, using drugs, are smokers, use a lot of bedding....no idea
what went on in the case you outline, BTW, but these factors would be
relevant, according to the research. Just as safer sleeping in a crib
or a cot might mean changes to what parents might expect to do, safer
co-sleeping might mean some changes too.

Helen Ball found that co-sleeping is so common, among breastfeeding
parents and formula feeding ones,  that anyone bothering to try to
tell parents not to do it, is probably wasting their time, and is
also encouraging a lack of trust and honesty between parents and
their HCPs.

I think one of the strongest points in favour of this universal
parenting action is that it protects and promotes easy breastfeeding.

The other point in favour is that it is for many parents and babies,
a lovely thing to do : )

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc
Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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