Controversies: Co-Sleeping with Your Baby
Parenting has never been an easy task. The fear of SIDS, the stigma wrought on those who breastfeed in public, or those who decide to bottle-feed, and the question of whether to co-sleep, also called bed-sharing, or not, are just a few of the things parents in this day and age worry about constantly. Some parents believe that it is in the family bed where attachment begins and thus the necessary strengthening of bonds that will take a child through their years successfully with a keen ability to trust and cope with their surroundings. Others believe, however, that such practices actually put the baby at risk for terrible accidents like an episode of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, being trapped under …show more content…
Dr. Cortesi et al. found in one study that parents of co-sleepers have a significantly higher level of psychological and couple distress (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15402000801952922). In the early 1980s, co-sleeping was also believed to be a contributing factor to poor sleep quality as a child grew older and an interference with parental sex, which although not necessarily formally debunked, has not changed many families’ habits of engaging in bed-sharing (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2005.12.001). Infants who sleep with their mothers are generally more prone to greater frequencies of arousals, and thus are easier to wake. Although this means less long bouts of sleeping for the child, it is those very arousals that are considered protective factors for SIDS. Children who suffered incidences of SIDS, are characterized by higher arousal thresholds. In other words, it takes them longer to wake up in the event of disruptive stimuli, for example poor respiratory control ((http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2005.12.001)). Then lastly, the sheer danger of a small infant sleeping with a full grown adult asleep and unaware can crush or suffocate a baby, there is also increased risk of strangulation, per the American Academy of Pediatrics, a world renowned authority on child
Parenting has never been an easy task. The fear of SIDS, the stigma wrought on those who breastfeed in public, or those who decide to bottle-feed, and the question of whether to co-sleep, also called bed-sharing, or not, are just a few of the things parents in this day and age worry about constantly. Some parents believe that it is in the family bed where attachment begins and thus the necessary strengthening of bonds that will take a child through their years successfully with a keen ability to trust and cope with their surroundings. Others believe, however, that such practices actually put the baby at risk for terrible accidents like an episode of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, being trapped under …show more content…
Dr. Cortesi et al. found in one study that parents of co-sleepers have a significantly higher level of psychological and couple distress (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15402000801952922). In the early 1980s, co-sleeping was also believed to be a contributing factor to poor sleep quality as a child grew older and an interference with parental sex, which although not necessarily formally debunked, has not changed many families’ habits of engaging in bed-sharing (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2005.12.001). Infants who sleep with their mothers are generally more prone to greater frequencies of arousals, and thus are easier to wake. Although this means less long bouts of sleeping for the child, it is those very arousals that are considered protective factors for SIDS. Children who suffered incidences of SIDS, are characterized by higher arousal thresholds. In other words, it takes them longer to wake up in the event of disruptive stimuli, for example poor respiratory control ((http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2005.12.001)). Then lastly, the sheer danger of a small infant sleeping with a full grown adult asleep and unaware can crush or suffocate a baby, there is also increased risk of strangulation, per the American Academy of Pediatrics, a world renowned authority on child