Safe Infant Sleep
Description
In the world of pediatric care, sleep safety guidelines are controversial and often misguided. Health professionals broadly discourage all forms of cosleeping, which, along with the potentially devastating consequences, makes deciding how and where your baby should sleep both confusing and frightening. Parents who cherish the closeness, security, and warmth of cosleeping are finding themselves conflicted, concerned, and exhausted.
Cosleeping, a term which encompasses sleeping in the same room or on the same bed as your infant, is a common parental instinct driven by physiology and seen throughout human history. Despite mainstream opposition, thousands of parents continue the practice, whether intentionally, accidentally, or out of necessity.
So, why do current medical guidelines insist that cosleeping is unsafe? What is the difference between SIDS and SUID, and are they related to cosleeping? What should parents do to make a safe sleep space for their infant? If a family chooses to cosleep, how should they respond to reproach from friends, family, or medical professionals?
In Safe Infant Sleep, the world's authority on cosleeping breaks down the complicated political and social aspects of sleep safety, exposes common misconceptions, and compares current recommendations to hard science. With the latest information on the abundant scientific benefits of cosleeping, Dr. James J. Mckenna informs readers about the dangers of following over-simplified recommendations against the age-old practice, and encourages parents to trust their knowledge and instincts about what is and is not safe for their baby.
This book offers a range of options and safety tips for your family's ideal cosleeping arrangement. These include variations of roomsharing and bedsharing, and introduce the concept of "breastsleeping." This term, coined by Dr. McKenna himself, is based on the inherent biological connection between breastfeeding and infant sleep, and provides readers with everything they need to know about safely sharing a bed with their baby. Complete with resource listings for both parents and professionals, this book teaches you how to confidently choose a safe sleeping arrangement as unique as your family.
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Person
Dr. James J. McKenna directed the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame for 22 years. He pioneered the world's first studies of the physiology and behavior of cosleeping mothers and infants, and has published over 140 scientific articles in medical and anthropological journals on the topics of cosleeping, breastfeeding, evolutionary medicine, and SIDS. He has also authored several books, including Ancestral Landscapes in Human Evolution, Evolutionary Medicine, Sleeping With Your Baby, and Researching the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: The Role of Ideology in Biomedical Science. A leading authority on breastfeeding in relationship to SIDS and bedsharing safety, Dr. McKenna is a sought-after speaker at medical, parenting, and policy conferences around the world. He lives in San Diego, California.
Content
Breastsleeping: What it Means and Why it's Important
I. Cosleeping is Normal
Chapter 1: Why I Care So Much About This Subject
Chapter 2: What is Cosleeping?
Cosleeping vs. Breastsleeping
Cosleeping: The Normal and Safe Way for Mothers and Babies to Sleep
Chapter 3: The History of Cosleeping
Cosleeping Around the World
History of Infant Sleep in Western Industrialized Societies
How the Animals Do It-What Happens When Deprived of It
II. The Politically-Charged Conversation Around Cosleeping
Chapter 4: "Never Cosleep!"
Why Public Health Officials Tell You This
Why the Message Doesn't Work
Understanding the Statistics
Bedsharing and the American Academy of Pediatrics
How Current Recommendations Ignore Evidence Based Medicine
The Misguided Public Health Goal: One Message to Curb Two Kinds of Infant Death
Chapter 5: The Silent P
The Relationship Between Cosleeping Deaths and Poverty
III. Everything You Need to Know About Cosleeping
Chapter 6: What the Research Tells Us
The Science Behind Breastsleeping
Bedsharing for Fathers
Why Cosleeping is Important for Breastfeeding, Bottlefeeding, and Formula Feeding
Chapter 7: Benefits of Cosleeping
Cosleeping is Good for Babies
Benefits of Increased Breastfeeding
Breastsleeping and Colic
How Parents Can Benefit from Breastsleeping
IV. How to Cosleep
Chapter 8: Safety First
How to Breastsleep Safely
The Proper Way to Bedshare
Breastsleeping Do's and Don'ts
Is There A Risk of Rolling Onto My Baby?
Chapter 9: If You Choose to Breastsleep
What is the Best Cosleeping Arrangement for Your Family?
Chapter 10: Special Considerations
Breastsleeping With Twins or Multiples
Cobedding Twins
Cosleeping with an Adopted Baby
Cosleeping with Premature or Underweight Babies
V. Fitting Cosleeping Into Your Life
Chapter 11: Cosleeping in the Long-Term
Long-Term Effects on Your Baby
Sleeping Through the Night
Weaning in a Breastsleeping Situation
Deciding How Long to Cosleep
How Do I Get My Baby Out of My Bed?
Chapter 12: Dispelling Myths
"Cosleeping will Change Your Relationship with Your Child"
"Cosleeping will Get in the Way of Your Child's Independence"
"Cosleeping will Negatively Affect Your Relationship with Your Partner"
"Cosleeping Creates a Bad Habit"
"Babies Need Silence to Fall Asleep"
"We Won't Get a Good Night's Sleep"
VI. Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: What constitutes a safe sleep environment, regardless of where my baby sleeps?
Question 2: What do I do about naptime?
Question 3: When visiting friends and family, where can I put my baby down for a nap?
Question 4: What should a cosleeping family know about traveling together?
Question 5: Does SIDS run in families?
Question 6: How useful are apnea monitors for sleep safety?
Question 7: What other infant care practices protect and contribute to an infant's health, including nighttime safety?
Question 8: What will happen if I tell my healthcare provider that I bedshare with my baby? Should I lie to avoid controversy?
VII. Final Thoughts
Chapter 13: Is the Tide Turning?
Chapter 14: The State of Our Parenting: Where We Stand, and Where Our Babies Sleep
Appendices