Co-Sleeping Research Paper

It has been studied and found that co-sleeping can actually reduce a baby’s risk of SIDS. SIDS is an abbreviation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Some causes of SIDS could be heavy bedding, smothering, and some babies just stop breathing in their sleep. Studies have shown that when a baby sleeps with his or her mother they feed off the mother’s stimulation, like breathing patterns. When a mother gets into a sleeping routine with her child the smallest things like her heartbeat, breathing, and close presence stimulates the baby to follow all those same patterns. The mother and baby become so connected that in even the slightest change in breathing can alert the mother; and this is where the risk of SIDS is reduced. Marie J. Hayes and Shawn M. Roberts both study or teach at the University of Maine. …show more content…
in Experimental Psychology, Postdoctoral in Neuropharmacology and she works in the psychology department at the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health. Rebecca Stowe works at the University of Massachusetts in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Stowe is specialized in child and adolescent clinical psychology. According to this article co-sleeping may not be the norm in the US due to the scare of SIDS, but it is the norm in other societies (Hayes, Roberts, and Stowe 349). “In these societies, co-sleeping in infancy and the early years, and even in some cases until puberty, is the norm and is believed to enhance the child’s sense of security” (Hayes, Roberts, and Stowe 349). Children who have a strong bond with someone will feel safe with that person and stay calm. Children can get stressed while trying to sleep or feel anxiety and that sense of security takes away all that and lowers their risk of SIDS. Children are not anymore of risk co-sleeping as they would be sleeping