Bed-sharing by accident
Our new book, Baby Sleep is going off to print as I type, and in the meantime, this year's AAP convention is kicking off in DC.
As we wrote the section on bed-sharing, we really agonized over what stance to take. Bed-sharing can be very dangerous, and babies can and do die when parents roll over on them-- as shown in this horrible story from Wales the other day. A lot of the deaths that in the past had been attributed to SIDS were most likely accidental rollovers while bed-sharing.
On the other hand, bed-sharing is on the rise.
Here's the stat from Widener U in PA:
ps. "SUIDS" is the new "SIDS" - Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Syndrome.
As we wrote the section on bed-sharing, we really agonized over what stance to take. Bed-sharing can be very dangerous, and babies can and do die when parents roll over on them-- as shown in this horrible story from Wales the other day. A lot of the deaths that in the past had been attributed to SIDS were most likely accidental rollovers while bed-sharing.
On the other hand, bed-sharing is on the rise.
Here's the stat from Widener U in PA:
Ninety-four women were enrolled ... 70 were interviewed at 1 month and 54 at 3 months. At enrollment none of the 94 mothers were planning on sharing their bed with their infant. At 1 month 47% reported sharing their bed with their infant the prior month and 17% at 3 months.I know we did the right thing by presenting all of the pros and cons of bed-sharing, and explicit safety information. The most dangerous scenario of all is what's going on here: parents who don't plan to, but end up bed-sharing out of exhaustion, without making the bed safe for baby.
ps. "SUIDS" is the new "SIDS" - Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Syndrome.
posted by Maurice Bradbury at 8:18 AM
2 Comments:
Does the sleep book address when to stop sharing the bed? Because getting the kids OUT OF the bed is proving to be much more of a challenge than we planned.
The book does cover when (and how) to evict bed-sharers. After research my opinion is babies need to sleep in their own beds when 1. the adult bed is unsafe or 2. their activity is keeping adults from getting a good night's sleep and 3. preferably sometime before 8 months, when separation anxiety can start to set in, making the change harder. The "how" bottom line is consistency-- both parents have to make the decision that kids will sleep in their own beds and stick to it no matter what. After a week (or less) of consistency they will catch on-- but it will be a tough week, no doubt about it. Definitely start on a night when no one has to be at work the next day!
Best wishes!
Marcie
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