Happy New Year Everyone, I am a little behind in my reading but this is in response to Jennifer's post about possibly recommending co-sleeping from December 16th. One of our new mom peditricians found herself in a co-sleeping arrangment with her newborn out of necessity for improved sleep. She was so surprised this occurred, since she never really thought it would, she decided to survey new parents from her practice. She found that of over 125 patient interviewed that about 60% of them, had at some point co-slept it, whether routinely or just occasionally. After careful review of the literature (while on maternity leave, TIC!) and with some trepidation she opted for the bed extender that placed the baby in close proximity to her, but in a somewhat less risky arrangement. Her take on this was that co-sleeping apparently is something that is fairly widely done, and that most women do not talk to their doctors about it for fear of being told not too, and that perhaps it is something more physicians should educate parents about. Specifically the obesity, smoking, alcohol/drug risks that have occured in some of the deaths where co-sleeping had also suspected to be a factor. If asked, I generally say that if this arrangment gives every one in the house a little more sleep in those early sleep deprived weeks, how can it be the wrong thing to do. I also discuss it from a cultural perspective and say that in other cultures it is more acceptable than here in the United States and that each parent ultimately will choose what is right for them based on their own personal situation. LuAnn Smith RN, IBCLC PA (Where winter is way too much already and I'm not so patiently waiting for spring!) _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html