James Mc Kenna, PhD, Pomona College, CA, I believe calls it co-sleeping or
shared sleep and argues that it protects against SIDS.  Having lost a son to
SIDS his research has interested me because although we shared sleep in our
home my son died during a nap in the bassinet.  I attended his lecture once
and was fascinated.  He presented at LLLI Int'l Conference also and has
written in Mothering magazine.  He takes a look from
cultural/anthropological view of co-sleeping and how it influences the
breathing patterns of newborns.  In our hunter-gatherer existence the before
industrial revolution this is how humans lived. When a child weaned he moved
in with a sibling and co-slept.

The problem in Western Society is that we no longer live in one-room cabins.
I feel we need an architechtural revolution to put families together again.
(We wouldn't have teens hiding in their rooms either and no doors to slam!)

Bonnie Douglas,LLLL