a few points:

-- i don't believe that babies who co-sleep are statistically more 
likely to die of SIDS. could we see that citation, please? James 
McKenna has published population-level statistics to the contrary.

-- btw i don't know how anyone could say "(McKenna's) information is 
physiology insight and intelligent conjecture... but not statistics" 
unless they hadn't actually read his 25+ published scientific 
articles.

-- be aware that if an infant dies of whatever disease SIDS turns out 
to be, and he or she happens to be in their parents' bed, many 
coroners will enter "overlaying" as the cause of death.

-- the Mothering Magazine article where i found that "crib sleeping 
is 2.37 times more risky than bed sharing" was about suffocation, not 
SIDS. the CPSC (US Consumer Product Safety Commission), in 
conjunction with the JPMA (crib manufacturer's lobby) had come out 
with a statement regarding co-sleeping and suffocation that 
disregarded the known risks of crib-sleeping. Mothering (with Dr. 
McKenna as guest editor) asked me to contribute an article about the 
relative risks of both sleep situations with regard to suffocation.

-- btw in that strange critical article in "Mainstream Parenting", 
the author compared apples and oranges, and i'm not sure what her 
agenda was.

Tina Kimmel, PhD, MSW, MPH


At 9:33 PM -0400 6/29/08, Linda Palmer wrote:
>That first quote is inaccurate as a blanket statement certainly but may be
>true in certain special situations such as impromptu cosleeping, tiny size, or
>cosleeping with drunk parents or with parents who smoke.
>
>McKenna is to be highly honored and treasured for his valuable contributions
>to the cosleeping issue but his information is physiology insight 
>and intelligent conjecture; not to be belittled but not statistics.
>
>As for Kimmel's stat, here's a rude criticism of her article:
>  http://mainstreamparenting.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/bad-sciencethe-
>curious-case-of-tina-kimmel-and-the-cpsc/
>I applaud her efforts but imagine the truth may be somewhere in between.
>
>Back to the bigger picture, I'm strongly pro-cosleeping but it doesn't do us
>any good to distort or ignore statistics, though it does behoove us to speak
>loudly against misleading conclusions or statements such as those commonly
>made by CDC/CPSC/NIH.
>linda
>"Baby Matters"
>
>On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:17:33 -0700, Matt and Aria Baker
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>  >I have never seen this before: "babies who co-sleep are statistically
>  >more likely to die of SIDS" (from Lactnet yesterday).
>>
>>I just finished reading an editorial on co-sleeping and here are a
>>couple of excerpts:
>>Research from James McKenna:  "cosleeping with nighttime breastfeeding
>>remains potentially lifesaving"
>  >Research from Tina Kimmel:  "crib sleeping is 2.37 times more risky
>  >than bed sharing"
>>
>>Thoughts?
>  >--Aria

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