Sorry to weigh in late on this subject. Here's another
example of how the media liberally uses scare tactics in other areas of
parenting.

                The February 2004 issue of Prevention magazine has an
article titled "Bed Sharing Is Risky." It begins with the following
sentence: "Sleeping with your newborn is convenient for breastfeeding and
helpful for comforting her when she's fussy-but you may be making a deadly
mistake." Could the rhetoric be any more loaded?

                It goes on to say that babies who sleep in adult beds are up
to 40 times more likely to suffocate than those who sleep in cribs,
according to a new study. James McKenna gets a brief word in edgewise to
note a deficiency of the study and to say, "It's terrible to make a
responsible breastfeeding mother feel bad about wanting to be close to her
child," and then we go back to one of the study's authors, who insists that
even the healthiest new mom can get overly tired and "All it takes is one
time." The Prevention folks add, "We agree. Until research proves otherwise,
babies should sleep only in approved cribs or bassinets."

                The pressure health care providers sometimes exert
one-on-one can be even worse. With my first child, we were considering
delaying the start of one vaccination. Our pediatrician at the time, who had
responded to my breastfeeding difficulties by handing us formula samples and
telling us my son would be "just fine" on formula, had no problem giving us
his special brand of informed consent on the vaccination topic, screaming
that our irresponsible behavior was "like going 70 miles per hour on the
freeway with the baby not in a car seat!"

                Warmly,
                Janice Berry
                Westerville, OH (USA)

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