Is bed-sharing and breastfeeding actually safer???

Susanne - posted on 04/15/2011

My four kids have all bed shared they all hated cots and being alone. They were all breastfed and I certainly am not playing roulette with my children. They are beside me where i can hear them breathing, see they are ok which is a hell of a lot more than i could if they were asleep in a cot the other side of the room. Also as I co sleep i am getting a full nights sleep instead of being woken several times a night by an unhappy baby therefore more competent to care for baby throughout the day.

Liz - posted on 04/06/2011

I think overheating is a problem. Most SIDS deaths occur in winter months with babies between 2-4 months old (in particular, boy babies -- nobody knows why).



My son was a winter baby, and when we co-slept, I made sure we were both lightly dressed, the heat wasn't turned on too high, and the bedroom door remained open for air circulation.



If you co-sleep, you can't dress your baby like he was sleeping in a crib, because shared sleep involves body heat.



(I'm only talking about SIDS risks, not suffocation risks.)

Nicole - posted on 03/27/2011

How many cribs are recalled each year? How many parents put blankets, stuffed animals, extra padding, bumper pads, etc. into those cribs each day. Yes, there are safe ways to co-sleep, just as there are safer ways to crib sleep. At the rate that cribs are recalled, I could say that moms who put their children in cribs could be playing roulette if I wanted to prey on the hearts of parents who just did what they felt was natural to them. I don't think everyone should bed-share because not everyone would make the particular precautions required for safest sleeping, but I am well aware that many parents don't take every precaution for safe sleeping before they put their child in a crib, too. And with all the risks that can happen with crib sleeping combined with crib recalls and other risks, for me, I feel that safe bed-sharing is no riskier than cribs. As I said in my previous comment, everyone should read and study all of the precautions for safe bed-sharing, because everyone should make informed decisions about their parenting, but I feel the same way about other sleeping arrangements, too. Anyway, as I said in another comment, there are more deaths in cribs each year (thousands more) than there are with bed-sharing.

And before you ask if I am practicing the "primal" description, I will tell you that I am not going to answer. For one, I am no longer bed-sharing with my baby (the last of my four) because he is now 18 months old and just recently transitioned to his own bed and is very happy only waking once to nurse (unless he is teething or something). And second, because even if I was still bed-sharing, no matter my answer, I would be damned if I do or damned if I don't, because you would judge me for moving out of my "marital bed" and probably making some kind of comment that I am more concerned with my child than my marriage or something similar. And if I said no, that I didn't move out of my "marital bed", then you would accuse me of playing roulette with my child's life (or some other insensitive accusation) because, for some reason, experts think that my husband would suddenly forget that our child's in the bed with us while I would not. And why is sleeping with your spouse SO important, but sleeping with your infant is not? It's just sleep. If I had made that decision, I would have certainly found time to cuddle and be intimate with my husband. Again, I am just speaking for others, since I no longer sleep with my child or saying whether I followed those guidelines to the "T" or not.

Obviously, I have taken offense to your comments. I think that was how you intended it. Hence, why I said your comments sound argumentative. I posted this conversation because I wanted more news/research to support Dr. McKenna's research, not to say that I am "right", but I think you wanted to be very clear that you are "right" and no matter what us bed-sharers do (past or present), we are "wrong" by either suffering our children to danger or suffering our marriage to lack of intimacy. If I have taken offense where none should have been taken, I will apologize...

Angie - posted on 03/27/2011

your right im not 100% sure, as i do know one person who has litterally moved out of her marital bed and created a giant crib as described in the primal co-sleeping description ie: safe bedsharing method. and i am perfectly aware of where i am at, and whom i am addressing. I also am aware of the risks associated as i am currently the director of one of the few safe sleep/ SIDS projects that will acknowledge bedsharing as even potentially beneficial. However, this being said, i do not believe that many people would willing move out of their bed with thier significant other, nor remove sheets, pillow, blankets, and all other comforts of a "western bed" and that is EXACTLY what makes bedsharing so dangerous, thus turning into roulette. My son does sleep in a miniature crib in my room. I am a baby wearer, i agree almost whole heartedly with attatchment parenting other than bedsharing, and i think that too often people are misinformed into thinking what was naturally designed is still safe and it is irresponsible for anyone to condone this method without telling them the FACTS!

Nicole - posted on 03/27/2011

Thank you for the info on safe bed-sharing. Anyone
wanting to share a bed needs to read it. And I totally agree with you, bed-sharing does not cause SIDS.

However, you do realize that you are on a co-sleeping group, right??? Most of the women here are co-sleeping or have co-slept. So, I think accusing bed-sharers as playing roulette with their child's life can be seen as argumentative and judgmental. Also, how can you be "sure" that "none" of us have created safe bed-sharing situations?

Angie - posted on 03/26/2011

but i suppose if your babys life is worth roulette that is your choice as for mine, he is safe and sound asleep, IN HIS CRIB!

Angie - posted on 03/26/2011

omg are you guys kidding me? bedsharing does not cause sids.. you are being misinformed by the power of be, the death that bedsharing causes is accidental suffication. Bedsharing is perfectly safe and natural but only under a very specific set of circumstances. which i am sure none of you have created. which include mother baby pairs only, no blankets or covers, no head board or pillows, and this list goes on. As of 2009, no one yet has demonstrated that keeping a baby in a crib is any less hazardous than this mother-infant bed sharing scenario:

• The sleeping surface is a firm mattress or mat pushed away from the wall and all other furniture

• There is no headboard, footboard, or railing attached to the bed

• The baby is placed on his back and his face is uncovered.

• There are no bed covers (neither blankets, duvets, no top sheets), no soft toys and no dangerous bedding (e.g., pillows) near the baby.

• Care is taken to prevent the baby from overheating (i.e., the room is a comfortable temperature and the baby isn’t overdressed)

• There are no draperies, blinds, or cords nearby that the baby could get tangled in

• Neither mother nor infant is wearing anything could cover the baby’s face, get tangled around the baby’s neck, or constitute a choking hazard

• The baby can’t hurt himself by falling out of bed. For example, if the bed is elevated from the ground, the baby is protected from falling out by being placed between the mother and a safe barrier, like the Humanity Family Bed Cosleeping Pad.

• The mother is a nonsmoker and is unimpaired by alcohol, drugs, or exhaustion

• The mother doesn’t suffer from medical conditions that render her a “heavy” sleeper or a “restless” sleeper

• The mother is the only person sharing the sleeping surface with the baby

This might sound like a lot of stipulations. But many of these stipulations correspond to the sleeping conditions found in places like Japan, where SIDS rates are low (Nelson et al 2001). And this scenario--which I’ll call the “primal co-sleeping scenario”--has probably been the most common infant sleeping arrangement in human history.

Does this mean that the “primal co-sleeping scenario” is risk-free?

No. As noted above, we lack studies regarding the safety of this style of co-sleeping. But we have to remember that babies have died in cribs, too. And it’s reasonable to assume that eliminating known hazards from the bed-sharing environment will reduce risk to the baby.

Angie - posted on 03/26/2011

omg are you guys kidding me? bedsharing does not cause sids.. you are being misinformed by the power of be, the death that bedsharing causes is accidental suffication. Bedsharing is perfectly safe and natural but only under a very specific set of circumstances. which i am sure none of you have created. which include mother baby pairs only, no blankets or covers, no head board or pillows, and this list goes on. As of 2009, no one yet has demonstrated that keeping a baby in a crib is any less hazardous than this mother-infant bed sharing scenario:

• The sleeping surface is a firm mattress or mat pushed away from the wall and all other furniture

• There is no headboard, footboard, or railing attached to the bed

• The baby is placed on his back and his face is uncovered.

• There are no bed covers (neither blankets, duvets, no top sheets), no soft toys and no dangerous bedding (e.g., pillows) near the baby.

• Care is taken to prevent the baby from overheating (i.e., the room is a comfortable temperature and the baby isn’t overdressed)

• There are no draperies, blinds, or cords nearby that the baby could get tangled in

• Neither mother nor infant is wearing anything could cover the baby’s face, get tangled around the baby’s neck, or constitute a choking hazard

• The baby can’t hurt himself by falling out of bed. For example, if the bed is elevated from the ground, the baby is protected from falling out by being placed between the mother and a safe barrier, like the Humanity Family Bed Cosleeping Pad.

• The mother is a nonsmoker and is unimpaired by alcohol, drugs, or exhaustion

• The mother doesn’t suffer from medical conditions that render her a “heavy” sleeper or a “restless” sleeper

• The mother is the only person sharing the sleeping surface with the baby

This might sound like a lot of stipulations. But many of these stipulations correspond to the sleeping conditions found in places like Japan, where SIDS rates are low (Nelson et al 2001). And this scenario--which I’ll call the “primal co-sleeping scenario”--has probably been the most common infant sleeping arrangement in human history.

Does this mean that the “primal co-sleeping scenario” is risk-free?

No. As noted above, we lack studies regarding the safety of this style of co-sleeping. But we have to remember that babies have died in cribs, too. And it’s reasonable to assume that eliminating known hazards from the bed-sharing environment will reduce risk to the baby.

Nicole - posted on 02/07/2011

First of all Stacey, I am truly saddened by your experience and am heart-broken by your situation and I can totally see how you would be opposed to bed-sharing because of your experience.



With that said, the only thing that I promoted in my blog was breastfeeding NOT bed-sharing. I posted the things I posted in the "co-sleeping" community to see if anyone had any other *scientific evidence* or studies to support what Dr. McKenna is saying about bed-sharing and breastfeeding.



I never said (nor does Dr. Mckenna) that breastfeeding means that NO babies will ever decease just because they are breastfed. More so, I (and using Dr. McKenna's research) said that breastfeeding may reduce the incidents of infant sleeping deaths. And again, while I am VERY sorry that you lost a child (as I said in my blog, my brother lost his precious infant son due to "undetermined" circumstances while his parents slept), I can definitely see how that tragedy will make bed-sharing a scary venture for you now. I just feel that to vilify the whole practice of bed-sharing because children have passed while doing so is acting out of fear. I could do the same about cribs, since there were 3,523 infant sleeping deaths in the year 2000 related to suffocation and SIDS while sleeping and only 60 of those were babies in bed-sharing situations. What about the other 3,463 babies?



And for the record, I don't condone bed-sharing where I work because I am held to the standards of the Department of Health and we don't recommend bed-sharing. Mostly because we don't know what kind of living situation those families have and can't be sure that they will be safe and informed about the decision. But, for me and those I know closely and know their situations, I would recommend it if they were exclusively breastfeeding and taking the precautions associated with safe bed-sharing. Will babies still die if they are bed-sharing with their parents in even the most safest of circumstances? Sure, but the number who die in cribs every year is even higher.



Also, the coroner who preformed my nephew's autopsy told us that they can tell the difference between death by suffocation and death by SIDS. So, if a baby dies from suffocation, it is recorded as such and a baby who dies from SIDS or other unexplained circumstances is usually recorded as SIDS or "Undetermined".



A parent should NEVER have to mourn the loss of their child! I just hope that if one passes away in a car seat that parents wouldn't stop the use of car seats and claim them to be unsafe because of it. Or if a parent loses a child in a place crash, I would hope they know that the statistics prove that was just a very sad tragedy, not because planes, in general, are unsafe.



Here (http://thebabybond.com/Cosleeping&SIDS%2...) is where I got more of my infant sleep-related information since lots of the studies are put together there. The actual studies cited on the Baby Bond site can be linked to and read on one's own.



I think that health professionals discourage the practice of bed-sharing because it's easier to do a one-size fits all idea. And let's face it, there are some parents who really should NOT be bed-sharing with their children, but who's to make the decision on who can and who can't? So, it's easier to say NO bed-sharing. Otherwise, if crib-sleeping, bassinet-sleeping, etc. were held to the same scrutiny that is used with bed-sharing, where would babies sleep? Because thousands of babies die in their own beds (i.e. cribs, bassinets, etc.) every year.



Again, I am sorry about your loss.

Stacey - posted on 02/07/2011

I am appaulded at the women who works for WIC is trying to tell parents that bed sharing is safest. Babies are safest in a crib but room sharing should be practiced so u can be near your baby without compromising their safe sleep environment. I love how everyone actually belives when Dr.McKenna says if you breast feed your baby won't die to a bed sharing accident. I breast fed and bed shared and guess what my son now sleeps peacefully and safely in his coffin for eternity. I have met at least 10 mothers who have bed shared that cost them their child's life. Out of those 10 only ONE yes ONE formula fed. But the sad truth is that regardless to the facts I have from real life examples ppl will still bed share! Bed sharing increases sudden infant death and just because someone blogs about it, doesn't make it true!!!! I think as medical and health professionals it is about time we stepped up and stop acting like only people who smoke, drink, do drugs, or are low income have babies that die from this. I also find it ironic that the bed sharing families I have come across say there is a safe way to bed share and these same families use blankets, pillows, bed share with their partner, with siblings ect...now i do not believe there is a safe way to bed share but if there is these examples are not safe sleep practices. When will people realize that one SIDS is increased by bed sharing not reduce, two that no matter what a mother tells her self NO you will not wake up if your child stops breathing (because loss of oxygen, no baby to cry to wake up up, and three they can not tell a difference between SIDS and suffocation and this is why SIDS deaths are so high & bed sharing deaths are so low (at least as far as stats go) and four... this can happen to you as it happens to so many babies and families every year!!!!

Aura - posted on 12/19/2010

These are a few sites I found on the correlation between SIDS and bedsharing, bedsharing and breastfeeding:

http://www.naturalchild.org/james_mckenn...

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/10/breastfee...

http://adc.bmj.com/content/91/4/318

http://thebabybond.com/Cosleeping&SIDSFa...

http://www.naturalchild.org/james_mckenn...

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content...

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/10/sleeping-...

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/10/10-reason...



I couldn't find the article I read about the sounds a mother makes to rouse her infant, but I will keep looking. Hopefully you can use something from here:) Actually, drmomma.org always has loads of articles that is usually backed up with a list of resources. They could probably aid greatly in any bedsharing, breastfeeding, and various other peaceful parenting practices.

Nicole - posted on 12/19/2010

Thank you Aura! I can always use more information. =)

Aura - posted on 12/16/2010

I am in 100% agreement with this. I'm pretty sure it has been proven that the mother-infant bond is much stronger in a BF relationship. When an infant naturally stops breathing in their sleep, since their breathing is irregular at so young an age, the mother makes a subconscious movement or noise to start the baby breathing again. BED SHARING IS NOT DANGEROUS UNLESS YOU ARE A COMPLETE IDIOT.



Edit: I'll try to find info for you to use.

Nicole - posted on 12/09/2010

I agree with all of you! And, although this will be long, please read! I could use your help!



I just thought I would share some things that I have pulled together to face an issue in my hometown. We were recently in the news (and since I work along side the WIC Program and the Department of Health, I was interviewed). Our county was in the news because we have an alarming infant mortality rate. (I blogged about it here: http://protectsupportpromote.blogspot.co...) Our infant mortality rate was compared to that of Sri Lanka! Since the news coverage (was in the works prior to that) an Infant Mortality Coalition has been started in our county and I have been gathering as much information as I can to present to the rest of the experts in these meetings, since we at the WIC Program sit on the board. The findings are saying that the deaths of these infants are attributed to several things:

*Bed-sharing

*Smoking in the home

*Inadequate birth spacing (pregnancies closer than 18 months apart) - Several of the mothers in our county return to the Health Department for their 6 week check-up pregnant AGAIN!

*Obesity in the mother during her pregnancy

*Maternal age (we have had a high teen-pregnancy rate for as long as I can remember)

*Socioeconomic hardships (we are a poor county) equates to less thorough to no prenatal care and many other problems that arise when financial hardships affect a majority of the population.

*AND we at the WIC Program are trying to get everyone to understand that formula feeding is a factor as well!!!



We feel that the simple act of breastfeeding can reduce many of these deaths.



First, as Dr. McKenna said, if the parents who are bed-sharing would breastfeed, the risks to bed-sharing would be reduced (maybe even almost non-existent). We fear that saying bed-sharing is attributing to the deaths will promote babies being forced to sleep on their own without a parent near by and CIO would be the norm. This would, in my opinion, come to bite them and more parents would lose their babies.



Second, if either parent is a smoker, the benefits to the child from being breastfed will help combat the risks to being exposed to a smoking parent (I would rather the parents not smoke, but if they are, breast milk would be even more important to the child.)



Third, breastfeeding can naturally help with birth-spacing. The health professionals at the first coalition meeting suggested giving birth control to the mothers when they brought their babies in for the 2 week check-up because they notoriously make that appointment, but miss their own 6 week check-up. We, lactation professionals, about passed out when this was suggested! Giving hormone-based birth control to any woman (especially nursing ones) is not recommended until she is at least 6 weeks postpartum and since this appointment is for the CHILD and not for the MOTHER, we feel that it would be just handed out without first knowing the woman's feeding preference. Then, the small breastfeeding numbers would be more negatively impacted due to early weaning caused by compromised milk supplies from the hormones in the birth control.



Fourth, breastfeeding can actually aid in natural weight loss in the mother. It won't do anything for her during her pregnancy, obviously, but it can help following birth. Also, genetics may play a role in the size of these women. If they are genetically predisposed to obesity then their children may be as well and breastfeeding can not only help their infants reach their first birthday, but it can help to reduce obesity later in life and combat many health problems that come along with it.



Fifth, I haven't come up with many ways that breastfeeding can help teen mothers except for the fact that breastfeeding women are very adamant about how breastfeeding helped them become more confident mothers and teen mothers are in need of more simple ways to boost their confidence in rearing a child. Also, breastfeeding promotes bonding and studies have shown that teen mothers are less likely to bond as well with their children. A woman who is more confident in herself as a mother and more bonded with her child is going to be more in tuned to what her child needs and, therefore, provide better, make better choices, and know more confidently when something may be wrong with her baby. Also, breastfeeding is more convenient, and although some younger mothers think that breastfeeding may tie them down, convenience in motherhood can help with stress, familial relationships and lower depression.



And lastly, breastfeeding should be very appealing to the poor! Even though many of the children in our county are on WIC, it is only a supplemental nutritional program and we don't provide all of the formula needs for a formula-fed infant and parents do have to come out of pocket for some of that formula. To an already poor family, buying formula can be an incredible amount of stress and can make even the most well-meaning parents use short cuts in the preparation of that formula and cause harm to their infant. Also, the bonding aspect due to breastfeeding can help in this area, too. Parents dealing with financial problems *could* feel less bonded with their children.



OH! AND breastfeeding has been PROVEN to lower the rate of SIDS!



If you all ever come across any other studies, news pieces, articles, etc. that I could use, PLEASE post them here or send them to me! I can tell them all that I have learned in my training until I am blue in the face, but without some evidence in hand, they won't listen. The Department of Health wants to tell these mothers not to EVER bed-share and wants to just hand out hormonal birth control like it's Skittles and we need to help them understand what we know and why we promote what we do. We could use all the help we can get! ;o)

Brenda - posted on 12/09/2010

I've been saying for a while now that we're causing our own SIDS epidemic. Our society is so focused on Safety that is has allowed us to believe that all these man made interventions are necessary, when they are in reality just ways to get parents to spend more money on rediculous idems (cribs, bassinets, crib sheets, fancy crib bedding, sleep positioners, angel guard alarm systems, video monitoring systems, all sorts of stuff you don't need if you do what comes naturally).

Minnie - posted on 12/08/2010

Yeah, shocker, caring for infants in the manner that is biologically expected is actually -safer-. LOL.

Human infants are born underdeveloped. Our closest living relatives, the great apes are born at a developental point where human children are at about nine months. Human infants NEED to be within breath's reach of their mothers to maintain homeostasis.

And gorillas still sleep with their babies :).

Katherine - posted on 12/07/2010

I should give it to my mother who is so damn anti!!!!


She always says, "You'll never get them out of your bed!"

Ummmm don't want to!

Julianne - posted on 12/07/2010

yep, giving this to the MIL.....hahahaha

Katherine - posted on 12/07/2010

I have to say, I'm not shocked. I've always believed in bed-sharing(although I didn't call it that until this group lol).
Same with BF, I think the closeness helps a baby bond and grow so much healthier than if you didn't.

Nicole - posted on 12/07/2010

This is the link for the news piece (just add www.). CoM site is confusing where the link ends due to the commas in the link.



fox6now.com/news/witi-100503-bed-sharing,0,7099533.story