I think years ago Margaret Mead showed a correlation between the way
infants are treated and aggression/violence(studies of different
cultures).  Ashley Montague also wrote about the significance of touch
and aggression.  I figure that when you co-sleep you and your
infant/child have a great deal of touching that someone never gets
sleeping alone.  This would be extra touching above and beyond
breastfeeding.  I remember hearing Niles Newton talk about oxytocin, the
hormone of love.  If I remember correctly, she talked about the fact
that oxytocin is not just a woman's hormone and that touch could
increase levels of this hormone in men and women.  I think biologically
and emotionally we are conditioning our babies/children to be
loving/caring. Touch--loving touch is as vital and necessary as the air
we breathe.  Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

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