Dear Lactnet Community, The messages around what constitutes safe sleep during infancy and childhood are confusing at best, and in some cases misleading. State health departments and other organizations feel compelled to address several recent highly-publicized infant deaths and do so using the only resources available to them: those that advocate that the safest place for a baby to sleep is alone in a crib in his or her own room. Unfortunately, as you know, many of these resources promote practices that not only put children at higher risk for SIDS, but also compromise the breastfeeding relationship, thereby exposing these children to increased health risks. But scare tactics (like a recent SIDS Alliance claim that an infant's risk of death in the U.S. is 40 times higher when bedsharing than when sleeping in a crib) not only confuse infant deaths in cribs with infant suffocation deaths, but also seem to inappropriately label deaths that occur when parents are intoxicated, or when they fall asleep holding an infant on a couch or recliner, as "co-sleeping deaths." What Attachment Parenting International is doing to help provide parents with the information they need to make an informed choice is coordinating the creation and distribution of research-based Safe Infant Sleep materials --ones that acknowledge that there are ways to safely co-sleep and bedshare, provide practical safety tips to parents, and that inform parents of how they can best sleep safely while at the same time maintaining a strong breastfeeding relationship and continuing to respond sensitively to baby's nighttime needs. We are reaching out to people like you to partner with us to distribute these materials in your communities and networks. Our hope is that this approach will allow us to get research-based information in the hands of parents who need it--many of whom we know are co-sleeping regardless of whether they have the best safety guidelines at hand-- as well as state and local health departments, pediatricians, and other members of the healthcare service industry. We welcome your input and ideas. Please contact Julie Artz, API's Communication Coordinator, if you are interested in participating in this important work ([log in to unmask]). I am passionate about getting this information out and hope to have your support. Thank you. Sincerely, Samantha Gray, LLL Leader and Executive Director, Attachment Parenting International API 423.878.8359 423.946.3525 *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome