Is a crib the safest place for your baby?
My wife and I were just talking about this a couple of nights ago. How did the “norm” in our society become babies sleeping away from mothers, alone in their cribs? This thought was triggered by a commercial (for what I can’t recall) where a baby is crying and the wife nudges the husband out of bed to feed the baby. At first glance, this appears normal and slightly comical. However, after actually giving it some thought, I felt a little confused. How did we get here? When did we start thinking separating a baby, who can’t regulate its own body temperature and breathing rate well and needs to be fed every couple of hours, from its source of food and heat? Coincidentally, the next day, I unintentionally stumbled onto a blog by a renowned pediatrician, Dr. Jay Gordon, M.D., on this very issue. In his blog, entitled Peaceful Parenting, he defends c0-sleeping of parents and babies and provides some very strong evidence. He states, “Babies sleeping on a safe surface with sober, nonsmoking parents respond to their parents, and the parents respond to them. The chance of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) occurring in this situation is as close to zero as we can measure.” Now, I’m sure there are some out there that are instantly thinking of someone they know or have heard of that co-slept with their baby and mistakenly rolled over on the baby and suffocated it. Although I’ve never known anyone who this has dreadfully happened to, I have heard of a friend of a friend of a friend who has. I think that’s how urban legends get started, right? Well, the fact of the matter is that many more babies have suffocated in cribs than in beds shared with their parents. For more information about this, check out James McKenna’s work at the University of Notre Dame’s Mother-Baby Sleep Laboratory. To wrap this up, Dr. Gordon explains that in his 23 years of practice, the families that do co-sleep are more successful at breastfeeding and the babies have fewer episodes of ear infections, pneumonia, and other illnesses than those families that don’t.
Granted, I am a male with no experience in breastfeeding or the stresses that go along with mothering a baby. I have to gather my information from my wife and patients. However, she and patients alike (despite the difficulties) agree co-sleeping has strengthened the bond between themselves and their babies as well as enhanced their abilities to know what their babies need. Also, being a father of two young boys (co-sleeping with both), I can appreciate the challenges of co-sleeping (especially with my oldest son who flipped and flopped every five minutes). But, I would not trade that bonding experience for all the hours of sleep I missed because of it.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Please feel free to comment.
In pursuit of health,
Dr. May
Dr. May, i am a father and i have two kids and one on the way. last night i put up the baby crib in my bedroom in anticipation of the new baby. both of my kids slept with me and my wife atleast the first three or four months. then we started puting them in the crib. for us it worked out better and the baby at the time was sleeping longer, which i know that all babies act differently. if i had a question for you then this would be it. At what age would you stop the co-sleeping at night?
jeff may - November 29, 2009 at 4:17 pm |
Mr. May, thank you for the comment and question. I believe you’re absolutely correct in saying that each child is different and thus requires differing amounts of attention and time bonding. I usually suggest a minimum of three months. The first three months is when an infant is at most risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). There are speculations as to why this is, however, nothing has been substantiated. My thought is that there are several factors that play a role in this, such as the inability to lift his/her head and make intentional movements, vulnerability to mattress off-gasing, and the inability to properly regulate body temperature and breathing rate. Most of all, the more time the baby has bonding with mother and father, the better. It’s not always convenient, but neither is parenthood, right? As to your question about when to stop, I would have to say…you know when you know. I think it will make sense to you and your wife. For my wife and I with our first child, we stopped at around 6 months. Our son would wake up every 30 minutes to feed and wasn’t getting any sleep lying next to my wife. It stressed them both out and became more detrimental than beneficial. So, we put him in a crib and he (and she) slept great. Hope this helps. Oh, and congratulations on the upcoming new addition.
In pursuit of health,
Dr. May
drmaynd - December 4, 2009 at 4:05 am |
Thank you for mentioning the mattress off-gassing. I wrote a piece on it here:
http://www.calicoblonde.wordpress.com
calicoblonde - January 15, 2010 at 1:52 am |
Hi Dr. May!
I agree with your views on co-sleeping until the following occurs:
1) It negatively impacts the marriage relationship (having intimate relations and sleeping together in the same bed);
2) It negatively impacts the much-needed sleep of the parents (do the parents get more sleep with the baby in the bed, or with baby in the crib?); or
3) It is simply not practical (i.e. having twins or more).
Thanks for sharing! I love seeing your blog!
Kelly Flores - February 10, 2010 at 7:25 pm |
As with most things in life, there are exceptions and space for individuality. You bring up some very valid points that should definitely be taken into consideration when evaluating your co-sleeping situation. The point of my post was not to discount the importance of this decision, but to shed an alerting light onto the all-too-common, detachment sleeping our society has become conveniently accustomed to. Thanks for your interest in my blog Dr. Flores. Your comments are always welcomed.
drmaynd - February 16, 2010 at 8:13 am |