Have you been sitting on the fence about cosleeping? A bonding method similar to baby-wearing, cosleeping involves bringing all family members, from parents to infants, into the same bed. You might have even heard other parents say, “Why, I would never use a crib! Don’t you know that it creates separation anxiety or [insert mental health condition of the month here]?” Don’t feel guilty about not using a family bed. While supposed benefits range from synchronized sleeping schedules to ease of breastfeeding, the CPSC advises against it, claiming it poses too great of a death factor to infants.
Statistics and warnings only go so far, however. A piece in South Carolina newspaper The State delves into greater detail about the practice’s dangers and the recent realization that some SIDS cases may in fact be brought on by cosleeping.
First, think about a baby’s motor skills and strength level, as the State piece points out, and examine your own limbs. Outstretching your arm and laying it down on the bed, possibly over a sleeping baby, becomes a suffocation hazard, as the child cannot move away or lift up the limb. Worse, parents or older children may roll over onto the baby.
Following Richland County coroner Gary Watts, the State piece looks into better determination methods for Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Syndrome – Unsafe Sleeping Conditions. In the event such a tragedy occurs, the coroner asks the caregiver to reenact the sleeping situation, examining all potential causes of death. Aside from a family bed, a baby is equally vulnerable when left sleeping on an arm chair or sofa, in a crib with comforters or pillows, or in the sharing a space with a dog. Unlike SIDS, however, Sudden Unexpected Infant Death specifically involves a dangerous sleeping area.
Breaking the habit, especially as cosleeping has been passed down through generations, can be difficult. But like fire retardant pajamas and playgrounds of metal and concrete, cosleeping is a seemingly-safe practice that is in fact quite dangerous. To the press, Watts explained:
“My grandmother did it, my mother did it, and I know I did it. But it’s unsafe. At some point, you have to realize it’s a danger to the infant. If you want to have a child in the room – put him in a bassinet beside your bed.”
Posted in 
Tags: 
