an argument for the reduction of fear-inducing mis-informtation!
A new advertising campaign in Milwuakee, WI has just rolled out.
"your baby sleeping with you can be just as dangerous"
Here is the response that I wrote in the comment section of the online article (posted below). Perhaps not perfectly formatted citing (my communcation professors may shudder), but I think it works.
If
they want to reduce baby deaths, they should do more to support
breastfeeding, co-sleeping families. According to Meredith F. Small,
author of "Our Babies, Ourselves," in regards to parents sleeping
separate from their infants, parents are choosing this "setting because
of cultural reasons, not out of biological appropriateness." She
continues by explaining some further research by anthropologist
Jim McKenna, "...the Western pattern of putting babies to sleep alone
in their own bed and in their own room is not only odd, it goes against
the grain of how babies were designed to be cared for" (p. 133).
Ironically, despite the relatively readily available prenatal care and
the generally adequate nutrition, the US has one of the (if not the)
highest SIDS rates in the world. It is also, as part of the
industrialized West, one of the only cultures that does not advocate
co-sleeping (Small). Hmmmmm....
Breastfed, co-sleeping
babies sleep in shorter, lighter intervals. While perhaps not ideal for
the baby-must-sleep-through-the-night-asap
culture we live in, it is safer for the "under developed" infant who is
still "learning how to sleep" (Small, p. 134)...how to negotiate
starting to breathe again after normal, brief apnea episodes. Sleeping
with the mother and nursing help smooth this developmental transition
(p. 130). "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" seconds these statements
and sums it up like this: "...it's well known that the highest rates of
SIDS are in the places in which shared sleep is not the cultural norm,
and the lowest rates are in places that routinely bed-share" (p. 229).
So..."formula feeding is linked to an increase in SIDS," ("The Womanly
Art of Breastfeeding," p. 229) and the lowest SIDS rates are in
co-sleeping cultures. I think that pretty much sums it up.
Of
course there are safe and unsafe ways to co-sleep. Don't co-sleep if
EITHER parent is under the influence of sleep medicines, alcholol, other
drugs, or is a smoker. Don't pile big heavy comforters on your infant
(but keep in mind, this is to avoid SUFFOCATION...NOT SIDS!) Make sure
your bed is safely set up to prevent baby from falling off. Sleep
facing your little one. And, nurse throughout the night!
Read
"The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" and "Our Babies, Ourselves"! They
are both incredible books with boundless information on this and many
other topics.
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