La Leche League released this statement after the AAP SIDS statement came
out.
*LLLI Responds to AAP Policy Statement on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome *

* *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: 847-519-7730: Mary Lofton , [log in to unmask], ext. 271; Mary Hurt ,
[log in to unmask], ext. 286; or Katy Lebbing , [log in to unmask], ext. 245.

Schaumburg, IL (October 2005) La Leche League International (LLLI) is
concerned about the October 10, 2005 policy statement on Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome (SIDS) issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task
Force on SIDS. The recommendations about pacifiers and cosleeping in the
statement reflect a lack of basic understanding about breastfeeding
management.

Pacifiers, which are recommended in this policy statement, are artificial
substitutes for what the breast does naturally. Breastfed babies often nurse
to sleep for naps and bedtime. The recommended pacifier usage could cause a
reduction in milk supply due to reduced stimulation of the breasts and may
affect breastfeeding duration.

LLLI recognizes that safe cosleeping facilitates breastfeeding. One
important way cosleeping can help a mother's milk supply is by encouraging
regular and frequent feeding. Well-known research on safe cosleeping
practices by Dr. James McKenna, Director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep
Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame was disregarded by the task
force.

Also, the obvious omission of input by the AAP's Section on Breastfeeding
may account for the fact that breastfeeding management issues were not taken
into consideration. Dr. Nancy Wight, President of the Academy of
Breastfeeding Medicine, comments that this statement "represents a truly
astounding triumph of ethnocentric assumptions over common sense and medical
research." Dr. Wight also states, "There are many physician members of the
AAP who do not agree with these recommendations."

Although the authors do state that breastfeeding is beneficial and should be
promoted, their recommendations about pacifier use and cosleeping could have
a negative impact on a mother's efforts to breastfeed. The statement causes
confusion for parents and falls seriously short of being a useful and
comprehensive policy.

LLLI, a non-profit organization that helps mothers learn about
breastfeeding, has an international Professional Advisory Board. The LLLI
Center for Breastfeeding Information is one of the world's largest libraries
of information on breastfeeding, human lactation, and related topics.
Monthly meetings are offered to pregnant women and nursing mothers and
babies to learn about breastfeeding management. To find local groups call
800 LA LECHE or visit www.lalecheleague.org

Also in an earlier New Beginnings article.
Issues Surrounding Cosleeping and SIDS Risk By Victoria Fisher
Glendale AZ USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 18 No. 5, September-October 2001, p. 175

James McKenna, PhD, and Lawrence Gartner, MD, spoke on "Issues Surrounding
Cosleeping and SIDS Risk." The talk covered a huge amount of material and
explained different recent studies on the subject.

McKenna discussed the US Consumer Product Safety Commissions's (CPSC)
recommendation that parents never sleep with their children. The CPSC report
made headlines in newspapers and on television stations across the United
States when it was released three years ago. McKenna explained how the
commission's data was obtained and how this influenced its conclusions. The
CPSC's conclusion that cosleeping is dangerous to infants was drawn from
summations of information from death certificates, many of which provided
insufficient information about the environment in which the baby died and
possible causes.

McKenna pointed out that the commission did not account for where the
cosleeping took place (some of the deaths occurred when adults and infants
were sleeping on couches), or whether the parent was under the influence of
drugs or alcohol. McKenna said that proper research techniques were not used
to gather data to support the recommendation that the only safe place for a
baby to sleep was in a CPSC-approved crib.

Gartner and Lawrence agreed that sleeping with infants promotes
breastfeeding. They both said it is inappropriate for agencies to recommend
against cosleeping.
Ruth Roazen
LLL Leader

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