Hi Everybody:
   I read an article written as an answer to the question "How can these teen
mothers kill their newborns?" This was after the news was full of infanticide
by neglect or outright action by some teens.  The author made the point that
infanticide has been with us humans since the beginning of time; early
references come from the ancient Greeks, where babies were abandoned in the
wilderness. The author (and I am so sorry not to have saved the article or
remembered the author's name) talked about infanticide being amazingly easy in
the first 24 hours after birth if the mother is overwhelmed if she perceives a
hostile environment. Other mammals will devour their young if stressed.
(Please, I am not condoning any of this, but reporting on what has been
observed!).
    Another point is that infant death by "overlying" has been an issue for
centuries. It may be more acceptable for a mother to claim that the baby died
as a result of overlying than to admit that the baby was smothered by somebody
in the family. This is different to the mother so drunk or drugged that she
ignores a baby's cues, and rolls on it.
    So I wonder about these 7 and 11 month olds "being smothered " in bed. It
just doesn't fit, as Diane pointed out in her post when she tried to smother a
doll and a teddy bear.
   In any case, for those of us who teach and recommend co-sleeping, about
6,000-7,000 families per year are affected by a baby who dies alone in a crib
of SIDS. So the dangers of solitary sleeping far outweigh any (far-fetched)
possible hazard of bed-sharing.
   Any cultural perspective on this, Kathy D? Warmly, Nikki