LACTNET Archives

Lactation Information and Discussion

LACTNET@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Barb Strange <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 14 Aug 2002 07:45:31 -0600
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (71 lines)
Despite the mixed message given in the headline, I was tremendously excited
to see this story about a just-published study on co-sleeping on the *front*
page of one of Canada's national newspapers today:

"Letting the kids into your bed does no harm - to them, at least"  Andre
Picard.  Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20020814/UBE
DDN/Front/frontpage/frontpage_temp/4/4/4/

(Actually, as a practicing co-sleeper, I had a giggle at the headline.
Still, I wish they hadn't put it that way.)

Here are some excerpts:

"For years, disciples of Benjamin Spock and Richard Ferber have warned that
parents sharing beds with their children promote emotional dependence, and
will saddle the kids with sleep disorders and psychosexual problems. Add to
this the stories about parents rolling over and suffocating their babies.
But the practice has had a renaissance fuelled by the renewed popularity of
breastfeeding and the desire of time-strapped parents to spend more time
with their kids.

Now, a study that compared bed sharers and solitary sleepers over a number
of years suggests it doesn't really matter whether children share a bed with
their parents. . . "

"What matters, ultimately, is that children live in a loving home. If
anything, Dr. Okami said, there is some evidence that parents who believe in
bed sharing do so as "part of a wider set of pronatural child-rearing
practices" that leave children confident and with strong values. . . "

"The research, published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral
Pediatrics, is derived from a larger project where more than 200 California
families have been tracked since 1975. Sleeping arrangements were analyzed
when children were aged five months, and three, four and six years old; the
children also underwent extensive testing at age six and at 18. . . ."

"Dr. Okami said that the upshot of the research is that health-care
professionals, who have long warned parents about bed sharing, should temper
their criticisms and try to engage parents in a discussion of the pros and
cons of the practice. . . "



Full story at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20020814/UBE
DDN/Front/frontpage/frontpage_temp/4/4/4/

The citation for the study is:

PAUL OKAMI, Ph.D.; THOMAS WEISNER, Ph.D.; RICHARD OLMSTEAD, Ph.D.   "Outcome
Correlates of Parent-Child Bedsharing: An Eighteen-Year Longitudinal Study "
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS 2002;23:244-253.
http://www.jrnldbp.com/

It does not appear to be on Medline yet.

Barb Strange

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

ATOM RSS1 RSS2