You know Oprah Winfrey has started this "book club" where she recommends a
book she likes and then a million rush out and buy a copy.  Well, she has
chosen "Rocking the Babies" for this time.  Unfortunately,  a central event
in this book is the death of a breastfed baby from Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome, while the baby is sleeping with its mother.  Now, it is
theoretically possible for a baby to die under these circumstances, but
since breastfeeding and co-sleeping are protective against SIDS -- that is
to say, breastfed and co-sleeping babies have the lowest incidence of SIDS,
I thought it was really unfortunate that the book gives the opposite
impression.  Can we have an e-mail campaign alerting Oprah to this one
drawback of an otherwise beautifully written book??  Anyone still have
Oprah's e-mail address?

Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University