Barbara Berges answered Elise's query about what the advice is based on, that
babies should not spend the night in bed with smokers.

I have never heard that smoking during pregnancy was a factor to be reckoned
with in advice about co-sleeping.  Smoking by mother during breastfeeding is
acknowledged as a risk factor if baby co-sleeps or not, but it seems the risk
is increased further if baby co-sleeps.  And, if there are other adults in the
mother's bed, their smoking habits also constitute a risk factor to the baby.

I mention this in information to mothers, as a way of reassuring the
non-smokers that there seems to be no change in risk to the baby whether it
sleeps in the parents' or in a separate bed.  I also mention that sleeping in
a separate room before the age of 6 months is a risk factor for SIDS.  AND I
emphasize that children of smokers have an even more pronounced need for
breastmilk than children of non-smokers, so they shouldn't have the baby
further away than that they can easily breastfeed at night.

And, here is where my own assumptions enter into it: I never even considered
the idea that the offender would be pollutants from the smoke clinging to the
parent's clothing, because no one in my family owns pyjamas (and now you know
more about us than you ever wanted to!).  We are not impoverished, we just use
Nordic bedding, i.e. huge duvets, so clothing is superfluous.  I am not aware
that the exact mechanism has been elucidated, so I tell mothers that we don't
know why, only that there is an association, and that BF moderates the
increased risk to their baby from their smoking.

Barbara, if you can ask the pediatrician for the reference showing that it is
smoke components in the nightclothes that is the culprit, I am sure we would
appreciate it on LN.
Rachel Myr
Norway

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