bedsharing
Bedsharing:
what you need to know
There are probably no parents who haven't at one time or another brought their baby into their bed for a good night's sleep - for everyone! But how safe is bedsharing?
negative headlines, it's still commonly practised in western society. Statistics show that in countries such as England, almost half of all newborn babies share a bed with their parents at some time, with similar or higher rates at three months of age reported in Ireland (21 per cent), Austria (30 per cent) and Sweden (65 per cent). Te reasons why bedsharing was - and is -
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so popular are perhaps obvious. For a start, various studies have shown that there are benefits for both mother and child, such as:
• increased infant skin temperature • stabilised heart rate • reduction in crying • increased milk production
Other studies, meanwhile, have shown that bedsharing may have possible psychological benefits for a child in later life, such as higher self esteem and fewer mental health problems.
42MODERNMUM Summer 2016
or many years, sharing a bed with a baby or infant was considered 'normal' behaviour in many cultures and, despite recent
Parents, who practise 'attached parenting'
believe that bedsharing offers a wonderful nurturing touch and more relaxed breastfeeding if a mother can stay in bed and doze off while feeding her baby, while a 2006 English study of fathers, who were initially reluctant to bedshare, but later did so, found that their overall experience was 'more enjoyable than disruptive'. So there are plenty of reasons why
bedsharing is a good idea... why then is it getting such bad press? Well, in the early Noughties, a link was
identified by various studies between the practice of bedsharing and an increase in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and there was, over time, general agreement amongst researchers that SIDS occurred more oſten while a baby was sleeping next to a parent than would have been expected. as a result, the dangers of bedsharing hit the headlines in a negative light, with experts indicating that the safest place for a baby to sleep during the first six months of its life was in a cot in its parents' bedroom. Despite these headlines, however, many parents chose to continue sharing a bed
with their baby. Since then, there has been a never-ending steam of mixed messages about bedsharing, with an increasing number of studies now focusing on issues such as parental alcohol use and parental smoking. Tese issues are not new though. Even in
previous years when bedsharing with a baby was recommended, it was only deemed advisable at that time if neither parent was a smoker, or if neither had consumed alcohol or taken medication of any kind. And this is the source of the 'grey area'
which currently clouds this issue. Te introduction of statistics on the use of
alcohol and drugs in conjunction with bedsharing has confused the issue in many people's minds, with various reports concluding that there are varying degrees of increased risk. While there was previously a general acceptance that sleeping with a baby was a risk factor for SIDS when sleeping on a sofa, or in a bed if the mother smoked and/or had taken alcohol, different authors have differed as to whether there's a risk from bedsharing if risk factors such as smoking or alcohol intake are absent.
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