Before we all jump to the conclusion that the child protective people in
California are idiots or worse, consider that the mother may not be telling
the truth, or may have misunderstood what the social worker said, or may
have indeed been told that it was against the law to cosleep with a son
after a certain age by a social worker who was misinformed, or lying, or
simply appalled and therefore telling the woman it was against the law so
she wouldn't do it any more.  I seriously doubt California has any laws
pertaining to where children sleep.  Remember also that many people hired to
be child protective service case workers have little education or training,
are paid minimum wage and have enormous caseloads, and do spend a lot of
there working hours dealing with parents who do abuse their children
horribly.  So they tend to suspect the worse.  Not every parent who cosleeps
with a child is doing it out of love and for the child's sense of security
-- there are some perverts out there.

It would have been helpful if this woman had gotten some advice about
alternatives to having the 2 year old in bed with her once she has a new
infant.  Like a pallet on the floor next to the bed, or his own single bed
in his parent's room, or he and dad in another room, while mom and new baby
sleep in mom's room.  There are lots of options between total cosleeping and
total solitary sleeping, making a 2 year old--who will no doubt be jealous
of his new sibling--be banished to a different room to sleep all by himself.

Just my .02 worth, as usual.




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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email: [log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html