I addressed co-sleeping a couple of days back. Allow me to hone my message a bit.  I just want the truth to come out and not be potentially tossed aside via Scientific Bias (from a presentation by Dr James McKenna):

When an infant dies sleeping prone in a crib, the contributing cause of death is not assumed to be the crib, but sleeping prone.

When an infant dies sleeping prone in an adult bed, even if the infant died alone, the contributing cause of death is said to be bed sharing.

Interesting, isn’t it? 

McKenna is a great speaker. I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to hear him-take advantage of it. Keep in mind that this is the man who has done the sleep studies and has data to back up his assertions. Here is a list of his safe co-sleeping guidelines:

General Safety Guidelines –

• Parents should not sleep with their babies if they are smokers or have ingested alcohol or drugs.
• Bedding should be tight fitting to the mattress.
• The mattress should be tight fitting to the headboard of the bed.
• There should not be any loose pillows or soft blankets near the baby’s face.
• There should not be any space between the bed and adjoining wall where the baby could roll and become trapped.
• The baby should not be placed on his stomach.
• Some sources also say not to put a baby on a waterbed to sleep

The point here, of course, is the practice of co-sleeping does not just mean a parent and child sharing the same physical bed.

Now, let’s look back at Rachel Barnhart’s original story on “co-sleeping” infant fatalities:

According to the police report, the father placed the baby in bed with him and fell asleep. When he woke up, he found Yarimyl’s lifeless body next to him.

“The only thing I can imagine is that I crushed her when I was sleeping because I sleep too heavy. I know it was my fault,” the father told police.

Any drugs, or alcohol involved? Had the baby started to cry inconsolably and BF rolled over on the baby to stop the crying? There is nothing accusatory here, I’m just asking the questions which should have been asked already. What do we really know, other than what the boyfriend told the police? Lots of unanswered questions here. Safe co-sleeping guidelines adhered to? I think not.

Or. how about these stories from Rachel’s blog post response:

However, I can relate a graphic account from a police report in one of these incidents, in which the father said he was sleeping heavily, and woke up with his infant on the other side of his body. The baby had heavy bruising. Recently, police told me about a 15-year-old sharing a sofa with her baby sibling and two other older siblings. The baby died. To medical and law enforcement professionals who hear these stories, co-sleeping is an obvious risk factor.

Again, no safe co-sleeping guidelines practiced here.

So, let’s get the message out. There are safe ways to sleep with your child. That is the message. Not, “Babies sleep safest alone “, as that is an erroneous statement. No scientific data behind that assertion. It is an emotional, knee jerk response to a series of anecdotes and as Stlo7 pointed out here, data is not plural for anecdote.

So, thank you to Rachel Barnhart for bringing up the original issue. This should continue to be examined. Knowledge is power. Let’s get the information out there so parents can make an informed decision regarding their own, individual parenting choices.

Anyone wanting to continue their education in the advantages of continuous mother/baby contact please feel free to read on for Nils Bergman’s take……

From Kangaroo Mother Care, Dr. Nils Bergman:

• Kangaroo Mother Care - Understanding Definition

The definition OF KANGAROO MOTHER CARE is based on all these arguments, and though it applies to all babies, it is particularly important for premature babies.

In summary:

• Kangaroo Position - maternal infant skin-to-skin contact
• Kangaroo Nutrition - early and exclusive breastfeeding
• Kangaroo Support - never separate mother and baby, and ADD ON available technology

Biologically, we know that the newborn is born with the skills and behaviours it needs to grow and be well, all it needs is to be undisturbed in skin-to-skin contact with mother, and it will breastfeed.

From evolutionary arguments we understand that the baby is extremely immature, and that its well-being is dependent on continuing its gestation in skin-to-skin contact with mother, and that the mothers milk is uniquely adapted top the immature gut.

Anthropology provides ample evidence that the behaviour we infer or deduce from biology and evolutionary arguments is in fact the normal behaviour for the human race: newborns and babies should be in constant contact with mother and should exclusively breastfeed.

Neurology can explain the mechanisms that we observe when baby is in skin-to-skin contact and when it is separated.

Physiology and research provides overwhelming evidence that Kangaroo Mother Care is not only safe, but superior.

For infants born too soon, being premature on top of being immature: continuing the gestation on mothers skin-to-skin contact and with breast milk is even more important than for fullterm infants.

The above contrasts starkly with twentieth century high technology practice, in which separation of mother and child is accepted as necessary and normal.

Separation is common, but abnormal and harmful.