I preface this post by saying that I have read only the Reuters article. I have not yet read the original paper. I hope that those of you who do read it will share what is pertinent. And I do consider co-sleeping to be a breastfeeding-related issue, because a return to breastfeeding is the reason that there is a return to shared sleep. Trying to breastfeed a baby at night with the insistence that she, then, sleep peacefully in a crib all alone creates such tension that breastfeeding is often sacrificed--sacrificed to the cause of human isolation, a major US deity. Since it was seen that so many babies were dying in cribs between 1980-1977(How many? Where is *that* research article?), many recommendations have come forth to make crib-sleeping safer (implying that they *weren't* safe?). Don't have crib near cords of window blinds, don't let baby sleep with soft toys, don't have soft bedding, have baby sleep only on back (and after he can roll over???), don't cover mattresses with plastic bags, make sure that crib slats are narrowly spaced and that mattresses fit snugly into crib, to name the ones I remember. With all of those known hazards of crib sleeping, where was the Ped. recommendation that babies be removed from that dangerous sleep environment? The crib itself was never seen as the danger, was it? If there is concern that 51 babies suffocated per year between 1980 and 1997 because of being wedged between the mattress or bed and a wall, couldn't the warning be to not have baby sleeping on the side of the bed that is against the wall? That would be the case if shared sleep was the culturally accepted sleep environment. And the 31 babies/year who suffocated with "nose/mouth obstruction, what does that have to do with shared sleep? Those fatalaties could be the stuffed toys, plastic bags, and baby quilts. Then, for the overlaying deaths, they change the years of consideration to 1985-1995. I suppose that if they had included their original 1980-1997, their percentages would have been too small. I'm not surprised that the number of overlaying deaths and deaths by being wedged between a mattress/bed and a wall are much fewer for babies who sleep in cribs. But how do those deaths compare with deaths in *cribs* from any cause? Where are these stastical researchers' comparative numbers? Where are the percentages of deaths in cribs from 1980-1997, which must be used to conclude the presumed safety of crib sleeping over shared sleep? If the total number of parents who do share sleep environments with their babies were considered in the percentages of "co-sleeping deaths", I'm sure that shared sleep would come out ahead of crib-sleeping in "safety." But with this pronouncement, how many will tell anyone about it? It is always a tragedy when a baby dies. And we all want to take steps to prevent as many as possible. But to take on co-sleeping as a major cause of death over isolated crib sleeping, takes an abandonment of reasoning and objective research. And where is James McKenna's extensive clinical research? Their bias is certainly showing. "Shared sleep is risky. Isolated, crib sleep is safe." This from the same cultural/medical bias that brings us? "Breastfeeding is risky. Use artificial baby milk, just to be safe." And remember that the unexplained death of a healthy infant in the US was originally called "crib death." The Peds initiated the change of name. Pat Gima, IBCLC Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA 0000,0000,ffffmailto:[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