I recognize and appreciate the various points of view on this topic. However
I do believe that women who sleep with their infants are more likely to
succeed at breastfeeding. Cue-feeding is an important element of
breastfeeding success. Cue-feeding requires feeding the baby at night.
Feeding the baby at night when she is in a totally separate sleep space
requires tiring efforts on the part of the mother. Tired mothers are more
likely to give up on breastfeeding. And babies who do not feed often enough
during the night gain more slowly, leading to formula supplementation. Women
who do not nurse their infants during the night are also more likely to have
either problems with low supply or mastitis. These can both lead to weaning
from the breast.

Also, my comprehsnive review of the research on this topic has led me to the
strong opinion that co-sleeping lowers babies' risk for SIDS. *That* is not a
lifestyle issue.

Parents deserve access to all the relevant info on this topic. Since our
culture is strongly biased against co-sleeping (although that is starting to
change), they often don't get it.

Katie Allison Granju
Knoxville, TN
http://www.attachmentparent.com/

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