To the Editor:
I am writing in response to your recent article: Infant Mechanical
Suffocation Deaths in the United States, 1980-1997
Dorothy A. Drago, MA, MPH* and Andrew L. Dannenberg, MD, MPH From the
Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins University School of
Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
The authors' conclusion that mothers sharing a sleep space with their infants
is, in essence, a dangerous practice and one which should always be avoided
belies common sense. Human beings have shared sleep with their young
offspring for millenia and in fact, most of the worlds' families continue to
do so. In only a few isolated places around the globe, including the United
States (where SIDS rates are among the highest in the world), do parents
routinely sleep separately from their babies and young children.
Family sleep sharing promotes breastfeeding, which steeply reduces rates of
infant morbidity and mortality. Additionally, infants who sleep with their
mothers are less likely to end up in the risky face-down sleep position, and
have been shown to be at a reduced risk for periods of sleep apnea.
Family bedding is extremely safe when the sleep environment is arranged
properly. Excessive use of blankets or pillows is inadvisable, as is any soft
sleeping surface, such as a waterbed. Parents under the influence of drugs or
alcohol should never sleep with their babies. Unfortunately, your article did
not mention whether these factors had played a role in the particular infant
deaths under review. After all, the fact that babies can die in improperly
secured infant car seats doesn't mean that car seat use is unsafe or
imprudent.
Sincerely,
KATIE ALLISON GRANJU
Author: _Attachment Parenting:Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child_
(Pocket Books, 1999)
http://www.attachmentparent.com/
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