Hi Marie,

Actually, I do remember Dr. Lawrence, at a seminar in Rochester - can't remember when - talking about her concern about families not being able to get babies out of the family bed.  As a practicing pediatrician, she said that this was a big problem for the parents she worked with and therefore she was not real enthusiastic about babies sleeping with mom for more than perhaps the very early post partum period.  I do remember that there were some raised eyebrows in the room when she referred to it as a "bad habit" for babies to get into.  I don't know that she has anything against the concept of co-sleeping, especially for those that willingly embrace it.  But the reality was that most of the parents she worked with wanted the baby out of their bed after a few months at most and we all know that this is not necessarily an easy thing to do, so I think that she was not enthusiastic about suggesting this to parents unless they realized and were comfortable with the idea of baby being there for quite a long time.  This was a while ago, maybe even ten years, it is hard to remember after so many conferences and hearing Dr. Lawrence speak fairly frequently.  Perhaps she is thinking differently these days.  Indeed, this is a subject I approach carefully in breastfeeding class as one of the questions/statements I frequently hear is, "If I let my baby sleep with me, when will she be willing to sleep alone?  I have a friend that let her kids sleep with her and they never wanted to leave......"  Some moms are very put off of breastfeeding when it is strongly linked with co-sleeping.  I have had some moms consider weaning to a bottle just to get baby out of her bed.

During the discussion this morning, it seemed rather clear that they were not talking about a family bed situation or even about mom and baby sleeping together.  They talked about going in to attend to a baby that was fussing during the night, but to not pick the baby up or feed the baby, but to pat him back to sleep.  Cribs were mentioned.  It may be that Dr. Niefert is supportive of the family bed concept, but it was not mentioned in any way as a strategy for helping babies/moms to sleep better. Perhaps she felt it was not appropriate for that discussion.  I think that Ms. Couric would have been shocked if she had brought it up - she had a hard enough time with the idea of babies breastfeeding at an age when they were able to talk.  Again, Dr. Niefert was very supportive about the breastfeeding stuff.  But for sleeping, she put out some expected time frames for extended night sleep for babies that really took me by surprise.  Was glad, at least, that she made allowances for breastfed babies needing to eat more often during the night, but of course it gave the immediate impression that if you bottlefeed you can expect your baby to be sleeping well during the night at quite an early age, within a few months.  She did acknowledge that there are always exceptions to the rule and that babies may change their routines as they get older, but I still didn't like the original guidelines that she laid down and which may stick in people's minds.  Maybe someone else who saw this has a different take on the conversation.

Sharon K.

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