I just want to pipe in to the co-sleeping topic. Having given in (!!) and slept with my first child from the age of 6 months (after reading a book called The Family Bed by Tine Thevinin) I went onto sleep with my other two children from the day they were born (even in hospital much to some of the staff's despair). It was my life saver but I can still acknowledge that some mums and dads just don't want to sleep with their babies and that is right for them.
I seem to spend hours, when I work as an LC, listening to mothers who sound guilty when they tell me they fell asleep whilst feeding their baby. There is so much negative talk about breastfeeding and 'making' mothers feel guilty however we don't have any nasty and degrading terms that describe those who 'make' mothers feel guilty about falling asleep with their baby! Strange heh? The underlying feeling when I work on the Ward as a midwife is that mothers and babies must not co-sleep in our hospital, yet I have yet to find this in the policy documents. I work in WA but I would be interested to know what other hospital policies state. Why is it that we spend the time to teach mothers how to place babies on their back and we have lovely colour pictures to show them how to sleep them safely in a cot but where is the education and lovely colour pictures to explain to mothers how to make sleeping with their baby safer? Mothers go home terrified of doing something that for many is a natural and life saving course. The BFHI UK brochure on bed sharing used to be more positive than the current copy however it does supply some good ideas for those mothers who co-sleep or for those who want good information to share with mothers. This is the link to the latest version http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/pdfs/sharingbedleaflet.pdf Take care Shaughn -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
