Dear Pat,
Ferber recanted his statements against cosleeping in an article in 
the November 8, 1999 issue of the New Yorker magazine.  Here is a 
link to the article in its entirety: 
http://www.booknoise.net/johnseabrook/stories/self/baby/  The part 
you want is about two-thirds of the way in.


"I confessed to Dr. Ferber that we were sleeping with our baby. 'We 
bring him into our bed, or my wife nurses him to sleep and then puts 
him down--anyway, he almost never goes to sleep on his own. And I'm 
worried that he's going to get in the habit of it....' I trailed off 
guiltily.

"Dr. Ferber's voice was reassuring. 'Well, several things could 
happen. He might settle at around six months and start sleeping 
better. Then you've got no problem, if you're happy with the 
co-sleeping. Or his problems might persist, and the longer they go on 
the harder it will be to overcome them. At any rate, he's still young 
enough that you've got some freedom to decide what you want to do. 
Because either co-sleeping or putting him in his crib can work.'

"'But it says here in your book...' I read him two sentences I had 
read to my wife during one of our 2 A.M. showdowns: 'Although taking 
your child into bed with you for a night or two may be reasonable if 
he is ill or very upset about something, for the most part this is 
not a good idea.' And, 'Sleeping alone is an important part of his 
learning to be able to separate from you without anxiety and to see 
himself as an independent individual.'

"'I wish I hadn't written those sentences,' Ferber replied. 'That 
came out of some of the existing literature. It is a blanket 
statement that is just not right. There's plenty of examples of 
co-sleeping where it works out just fine. My feeling now is that 
children can sleep with or without their parents. What's really 
important is that the parents work out what they want to do.'"


I don't know the answers to your other questions but I hope this much 
is helpful!

Margaret
Longmont, CO

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