This is from the UK UNICEF Baby Friendly News. Peter Flemming is commenting on Blair PS, Sidebotham P, Berry PJ, Evans M and Fleming PJ 2006, Major epidemiological changes in sudden infant death syndrome: a 20-year population-based study in the UK. The Lancet 367(9507): 314-319. Which found an increase in the number of deaths of infants on sofas. IMO this is the most obvious risk of saying that bedsharing is dangerous. Karleen Gribble Australia Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, lead researcher Professor Peter Fleming said that the reasons for this were unclear but that it may be due to overheating "You can prepare for the fact that you may fall asleep with your baby in bed by moving pillows and a duvet but you can't do this on a sofa, there is nowhere else to lose heat to". He added that lack of communication about prevention appears to be partly to blame. "One of the reasons this appears to be happening, some of the families have told us, is because they were advised not to bring their babies into bed with them so they fed them on the sofa. A confusion of message - or a lack of message - has caused this increase. When feeding your baby at night it is probably safer to bring them into bed with you to feed where you can create a safe environment." -----Original Message----- From: Lactation Information and Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jeanette Panchula Sent: Thursday, 6 January 2011 2:34 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Unintended consequences of avoiding bed-sharing I wanted this subject line to be clear.because I've been asked to find resources/references from places OTHER than breastfeeding research that address bed-sharing value. I was told that the SIDS committee was going to state clearly that "thou shalt not bed-share" despite my attempts these last 10 years to provide data, studies, reports and information (including the fact that we do not say "thou shalt not have sex" we say "this is safer sex".) HOWEVER, at the last minute - a new Leadership has come in, and pointed out that telling mothers (65% of whom ADMIT to bedsharing) not to bedshare may cause unintended consequences .. in ADDITION to reducing breastfeeding, such as .. And here is where I'm asking you to provide references/resources about the unintended consequences of telling mothers not to share beds with their babies.from resources besides breastfeeding such as (I'm brainstorming here - but need YOUR help!) Biological anthropology Cultural anthropology Etc. You are such a diverse group I'm hoping you can help me.time is of the essence.! Thanks! Jeanette Panchula, BA-SW, RN, PHN, IBCLC California, USA *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome