Re: Cosleeping

[Nikki Macfarlane]

My understanding is that the current recommendations are:   1. No co sleeping if either parent smokes 2. No co sleeping if either parent takes reacreational drugs or consumes large amounts of alcohol 3. No co sleeping on settees (couches)   The reason for the smoking is that the second hand cigarette smoke puts the baby at risk of sids   The reason for the alcohol & drugs is the impairment in levels of sleep and the inability of an inebriated or drunk adult to recognise if they have rolled on a baby   The reason for the couches is that the studies show babies that sleep with their parents on settees are more at risk of sids.   There is no evidence that a baby in bed with its parents who are not inebriated, smokers or heavy drinkers is at any more risk that any other baby. In fact, there is some evidence that it reduces the risk of sids. Studies that were carried out some time ago in an area of Wales UK found that babies born in Asian families had significantly lower rates of sids than caucasian babies in the same area. The hypothesis was that these babies co slept in a family bed and this was thought to possibly confer some benefit. There is some thought that it may be normal for a baby to stop breathing briefly and that being beside an adult who is breathing may stimulate the baby to take another breath, thus reducing the risk of sids.   There is also very clear evidence that breastfeeding 100% offers benefits to babies against the risk of SIDs.   I personally have known several women who have lost a baby to SIDs through my work witha  miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death support group I worked with in the UK for some time. During the year I was involved I knew 5 women who had lost a baby to SIDs and had the babies in cots in another room. There was one woman whose baby coslept and died in her parents bed while they were beside her. I remember the women who lost a baby that slept in another room and then went on to have another baby all intended to co sleep with their next baby since they felt their babies would be less at risk if they were closer. Just anecdeotal but interesting.   I am interested that the fact that 2 babies died in one area has resulted in advise not to co sleep. Were these two babies co sleeping with parents who were not smokers, heavy drinkers or drug users? How many babies died of SIDs in the same area that were not co sleeping? Did anyone know the details of these two deaths or is this one of those stories passed on from one person to the next without any real foundation?   This sounds like the policy at the hospitals here that says the babies cannot be born in the birthing pool because a baby died in a birthing pool in the UK. Never mind all the babies that died out of the birthing pool. Or the actual reason for the death. Why are health professionals often so keen to jump down on anything remotely "natural" or "non-interventionist" yet happily embrace high risk activities that have not been adequately tested and proved beneficial? And even will continue to use high risk practices that have been proven to be high risk? Ridiculous.   Nikki Macfarlane Singapore   ----- Original Message ----- From: Janelle & Lyndon Webb To: ozmidwifery Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2002 11:16 AM Subject: Cosleeping All the sharing on the list about the wonderful benefits of cosleeping has stirred my conscience. I have not had children, but can see that this is a very natural thing to do. However, the is a big SIDS prevention push at the hospital where I work, and one of the big no, nos is cosleeping. One of the paeds is on the SIDS committee and apparently there where two cases in our area last year, two cases too many. We have been asked to get parents to sign a form stating that they have received the information on safe sleeping, including the information that cosleeping is not recommended. A midwives, many of us feel uncomfortable with telling mothers that they must not sleep with their babies, and in my practice I was beginning to encourage more and more mothers to "kanga cuddle" their babies and have a snooze together in the days following the birth. Especially if they were having feeding issues. I do know however, that there are also midwives that if they find a mother and baby asleep in bed together, will remove the baby from the bed!   I know that there is also alternative research on cosleeping which I should try and track down, but are there any thoughts from the wise women of this list as to how to approach the current recommendations on SIDS?